Doctor Who: Black Rain - Chapter 1
by Royfeliciano
Summary: The Doctor travels to Coruscant with his new companion to warn The Jedi Council of a new threat to the universe. Many would be heroes join The Doctor as starships are raining out of the sky and strange shadows threaten to rewrite the order of the Universe.
1. Chapter 1

Doctor Who: Black Rain

Chapter One: Blue.

The first time I heard the sound, it didn't mean much to me. Kind of like the whistle of a strong wind down a long corridor. But soon the sound became synonymous with hope - because on that day, the day I first heard it, everything changed.

::Whoo-ooksh::

::Whoo-ooksh::

I remember it being a particularly nice day. A day to leave my long robes behind. I stood out in the courtyard taking in the sun. This planet is so much more congested than home, but on this day, on this courtyard - I was at peace. Sunlight beamed off of tall buildings like melting ice reflecting dawn's lights back home. A light breeze blew against my pale blue skin. Even the exhaust of ships from the flyway became a pleasant sensation. But what was that sound?

::Whoo-ooksh::

::Whoo-ooksh::

And at the center of the courtyard, as if out of thin air, a large blue rectangular box appeared. And out of it He appeared. An average enough looking humanoid creature. Black hair with dark brown skin, a little more smiley than the rest, and his clothes were strange to me. A grey jacket that ran odd angles and what I would later learn is called a "tie". He marched directly towards me and said in a commanding voice, "You! Blue-girl! Onion-head! Where is Onion-head? I need to speak with him now."

"Onion-head?" I questioned, taken aback by his directness.

"Yes, tiny green creature... sprouts coming out of his head... Like an onion."

I have never heard of these onions, but who was this man to be demanding council with Master Yoda. I was about to inform him of the impossibility of his request when he started again.

"Listen. I am not going to insult your intelligence and try to use Psychic Paper on a Jedi Knight. Tell Master Yoda that The Doctor needs to see him."

As he spoke, another humanoid creature stepped out of the blue box. I thought, they couldn't have both been comfortable in that tiny craft. She was a smaller humanoid of lighter skin with hair the color of fire. She also wore a funny outfit. A navy jacket that had what she later told me were "Lacrosse Sticks" crossed over each other on the front like a coat of arms. On the back of her jacket she wore the name "Crehan". She walked gracefully towards the man who calls himself "The Doctor" carrying a strange item in her hand. "Doctor! How many minutes do I set this kitchen timer for?"

"15. Thank you Erin," he replied and then he turned his head back towards me.

"Master Yoda is in the middle of a council meeting right now. He is not to be disturbed," I stated resolutely.

He contorted his face, pursing his eyes, lips, and nose all closer to each other. He then let out a large sigh.

"I am sorry sir, but a meeting with Master Yoda right now is impossible. Also, you cannot leave your ship parked there. The Jedi Temple is sacred ground, and this courtyard is one of reflection and ..."

As I spoke he ran past me up the steps of the temple. At this, his companion put her hand to her face and said, "Always with the running! Well I guess we should follow him." And that I did. I had not been on Coruscant long, and I would be damned if my reputation was to be the one who let strange medics run around as they please.

I chased after him ordering him to stop, his companion running behind me laughing. Just over that bridge and he would be at the tower that held the High Council. The Jedi Temple was made of five large silver spiral towers in the shape of a cross with the Main Tower in the center. All connected by uncovered bridges on the 15th floors. Sunlight shown off of them brilliantly as we ran from East Tower to the Main Tower. A spectacular architectural accomplishment, it was easy to regard the Jedi Temple as a holy place. Not a place to let strange dressing humanoids run free!

The padawans we passed on the bridge joined in the laughter of The Doctor's companion, thinking it was some kind of game. But as we neared the tower I thought that this man could be a threat to the members of the High Council. I readied my hand on my lightsaber as we reached the Council doors. The doors opened, and Master Gilley appeared. Tall, thin, and wielding a pair of wise-deep eyes. Just looking at Master Gilley made you believe you were closer to cracking the mysteries of the universe. He stood in front of the now opened council door. His hair many shades more grey than when he first took up the honor of Jedi Master. He said in his usual calming voice, "Master Yoda says that we are expecting a guest. Sorry for the short notice Ceranus. Thank you for escorting them to us."

I bowed my head in understanding and started to leave, when The Doctor stopped me. "Actually, if you geezers wouldn't mind, can my friend Cera stay? As you know Onion-Head, I like blue things. And I think she'll complement the color of my current companion really well."

As he said this, the red-headed humanoid rounded the corner, "How... How can you guys run like that?" She said trying to catch her breath. "All-American 2 years in a row, and you freaks make me look like bench material!"

We entered the Council chamber; Master Gilley, The Doctor, The Companion, and I. I looked around to see that of the 12 seats in the Council, 8 were taken up by their respective members while the others were present in projected forms. This was my first time in Jedi High Council room. It was much smaller than I had imagined it to be. A ring of 12 chairs facing each other. A room of off-white carpet with large windows in the rear showing a spectacular view of Coruscant's skyline.

Master Yoda spoke in a slow yet lively matter as we entered the room, "My old friend, collecting always are you!" He let out a great laugh.

"Haha! Onion-head, you've aged beautifully!"

"486 next cycle, very much I thank you. You come with a new, younger face. Not fair it is!," Master Yoda laughed, "But the reason you are here, to catch up it is not."

The Doctors expression changed, "Unfortunately not my old friend."

"Hmm. Yes. Troubling times ahead. We have been aware for some time now."

::Ding::

A sound rang out from the jacket of The Doctors Companion. She pulled out the device she earlier referred to as a kitchen timer.

"No, the answer still is my friend," Master Yoda said firmly to The Doctor. "Too dangerous a weapon it is."

Master Gilley stepped forward, "The Jedi are the most powerful force in the universe. If these... things... want to come to Coruscant, then this will be the perfect opportunity to erase this threat for good."

I had no idea what any of them were talking about. My head darted from The Doctor, to Master Gilley, and then around the room to the other members of the Council. There was a strange silence and I could feel anxiety in all of the Council Members.

Master Yoda worriedly looked at The Doctor, "To us, what happens?"

"I couldn't tell you," The Doctor said. "Everything has changed."

I heard the companion mutter under her breath. It sounded something like "Timey Wimey."

"Master Gilley, war we must be ready for," Master Yoda started. "Mobilize the troops."

The Doctor dropped his head as the council members one by one left the room. Yoda popped his head back in, "Ceranus, to his ship bring the Doctor please." And the automatic doors closed behind him.

"Come Doctor, we need to get you back to your... ship," I said, but my mind was preoccupied with what The Council had discussed. They had been spending an inordinate amount of time in meetings and had been ordering security around the temple to be tighter than usual. Many other Jedi were called from around the galaxies back to the temple in the past couple of weeks. I was busy in my own head, when the sound of my name brought me back.

"Okay. Crehan, Cera... Let's go save the Universe," The Doctor said as he made a run out of the room. I was too preoccupied with my thoughts that it wasn't until I saw a wisp of red leave the Jedi council room that I knew I was alone.

"Wait!" They were running again. Back the way they came at least. I pursued.

I caught up with them just as we came to the bridge. I could see his blue craft in the courtyard below. Though I looked down to the courtyard, it seemed everyone else was gazing upwards. I adjusted my sights to above the Temple as well. In the sky, for as far as I could see, multiple large items were breaking through the clouds into view. Upon further look I could tell that they were actually hundreds of ships landing. No, not landing. Falling. There were hundreds of ships free falling straight downward. No propulsion of any sort, no changing of angle, just falling straight downwards.

There were all kinds of ships, many common models that I knew off hand; freighters, starfighters, transports, maintenance crafts, and even a few satellites. They all seemed to be in bad shape. Some with large holes in the hull. Some just a half or a third of a ship plummeting down. And then all at once, their engines started and they propelled themselves into the city. The ships scrambled in all directions over the Coruscant skyline.

Coruscant must have previously dispatched fighters because the military was mobilized and ready. Jedi starfighters also took to the sky and began to fire on the ships. I recognized that many of the models of the plummeting ships were not outfitted with weapons to fight back. They could not have been an organized military of any sort. And even if they were, to attack Coruscant with freighters and satellites? Especially ships in the conditions that they were in. I thought about what my next move should be as I looked around. At the center of the bridge I could see Master Gilley with a group of young Jedi Knights. He was giving them orders, but I could not hear from where I stood.

I began to move past The Doctor to join their ranks. "I trust you can find your own way to your ship." And as I turned to the bridge, a large transport ship was making a direct line for Master Gilley and my fellow Knights. I don't remember what I screamed to them, it was probably nothing coherent anyway, but Master Gilley took immediate action. He was a Knight with great mastery of The Force and he used it to push all the knights safely to the other side of the bridge. He then jumped backwards gracefully in our direction, avoiding the ship as it ripped through the bridge and separated him from the knights.

Shrapnel from the collision flew in all directions. In the falling shrapnel, something was moving. Something alive. Small, fast, and dark in color - it darted between flaming pieces of the falling ship and then onto Master Gilley. Master Gilley grabbed at it, but it twisted his arms behinds his back. I ran over to cut it off of him.

Lightsaber in hand, I swung to remove the creature from his back. I heard the voice of the Doctor behind me say something but I was concentrated on saving my Master. With a flash of blue, I struck at the creature but the opposition I received was not what I had expected. Where I had expected to feel my blade pass through the creature, I instead met resistance from another lightsaber. Master Gilley's green lightsaber shone out, blocking my attack. His eyes had gone white as he stared intently at me. Master Gilley stood there with his lightsaber locked into mine. These were not the eyes of the wise man who had shown me the ways of the Jedi. These eyes were cold and alien to me. The creature on his back began, it seemed, to melt into Master Gilley. Its arms and legs draped over Master Gilley's torso like paint. Its dark head rose over my Master's head. Its long dark snout opened up to reveal black teeth. It let out a high pitched terrifying roar. "AAEEEEEEEEEEEEEK" and disappeared into my Master's body. Master Gilley jumped backwards and held his lightsaber out as if to defend against me. As if to protect the creature. But from his lips I could make out the words, "Help me."

Chapter Two: Black.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Black

This was the second meeting today, and the fifth meeting we've held all week. We Council members had met at least once a day for the last two weeks. Usually I would be meeting Ceranus in the courtyard at this time of day for tea, but I didn't mind much, since it had been raining every day this week. Today it turned out to beautiful outside though. I hope she isn't out there waiting for me.

But back to the meeting. I believe on that day we were speculating about where "They" came from. Master Yoda insisted we keep this threat a secret from the other Jedi. Our most recent data puts their origin as the Outer-Rim, just outside of the Kanzian system. From the Hall of Records we could trace their path. Lifeforms on planets were disappearing as "They" made a direct course. A deliberate course towards Coruscant. They were moving quickly and we sensed life fade away wherever they passed.

"The best mode of action would be to recall all Knights in the area back to Coruscant, and hold a counter attack on home soil" I insisted. "We need to think about procuring transports to move civilians off-world."

"Master Gilley," Master Yoda interrupted me. "Arrived, an old friend of mine has."

The most recent calculations gave us two more weeks before "They" arrived, but Master Yoda assured us that this "Doctor" only arrives at the last possible minute, and only when things are about to get really bad. The man seemed like nothing special. A humanoid wearing strange clothing. Rather eccentric and rude. He did not look much like a warrior, but he gathered much respect from Master Yoda.

::Ding::

A sound rang out from a device in his companion's jacket. It was at that moment that a sensation hit the entire Council at once. How could they be here so soon? How could they be at our doorstep and we just now are able to sense their presence.

"Master Gilley, war we must be ready for," Master Yoda started. "Mobilize the troops."

"Attention!" A group of young Jedi Knights stood before me on a bridge. A group that had excelled in their training, but did not have any actual combat experience. Green as they were, they needed to be caught up on the situation. I started to explain that an unknown presence was arriving on our planet today. I explained how the Council sensed life being stripped from planets. I explained how looking out into the stars, I sensed a line of planets with life stolen from them. Jedi that were sent on reconnaissance in those areas saw what were once lush forests and jungles, transformed into desolate deserts and wastelands.

As I briefed the young Knights on threat, I saw their eyes move upward. I could see starships breaking through the clouds above. The crafts fell lifelessly out of the atmosphere and into view. And then all at once they shot into all directions, hundreds of ships. I recognized many as ships from the Outer-Rim; Kanzian transporters, Hillucian cargo ships... A smaller, half of a ship, propelled itself towards the bridge.

I remember pushing the troop of young Jedi to the other side of the bridge. The next thing I knew, there was a black substance on me. It adhered to my body and I couldn't pull it off. As I tried to remove it, the substance came alive and bended my arms behind my back. I began to black out. I then remember looking out and seeing my old padawan Ceranus. She had grown a lot since the day I first took her on as a pupil. Her golden horns had grown into maturity just as her mastery of the force had. She stood in front of me with her lightsaber erected.

I attempted to turn around and see what threat she had taken arms against, but my body did not respond. It felt as if I were paralyzed. I was staring out of my eyes as if they were the windows of a transport. And then my body started to move on its own. My lightsaber was in my hand, also activated. My body was taking on a defensive position. I tried to struggle, but to no avail. I was trapped in my own body. Something was piloting me as if I were a vehicle.

The creatures thoughts melted into mine. I could see a desire to spread and pervert everything it came into contact with. I sensed a dangerous curiosity. A curiosity about me, a curiosity about The Jedi order, and a curiosity of The Force. It took delight in the power it just found. The pilot of my body became intoxicated by the potential of the weapon that just came into its hands. I tried to resist its control, but I was helpless. Trapped.

I tried to scream to Ceranus. I wanted to say "Run! Get away." I wanted to tell her to go to Master Yoda. Get the rest of the Jedi Council off of this planet, before they suffer the same fate. But no words left my lips. I thought about what Master Yoda would do. The man who trained me in the ways of The Force. I wondered if he had ever felt as helpless. And I remember a time when he told me that he had felt helpless. A time where he felt like there was nothing in his power that he could do. And at that time he trusted in a man. A strange creature that traveled through time and space in a strange blue box. Someone that Master Yoda had complete faith in.

I then knew what Ceranus had to do. She had to help this Doctor. She had to get him to his craft. She had to get him off of this planet so that he could save the universe. And so I tried again. Inside I was screaming! "Ceranus, help the Doctor. Whatever it is he needs, he may be our only hope. Don't let these things take over the Jedi Council. I have faith in this man that Master Yoda trusts above all else. Leave me here and help him. Help the Doctor." Inside of my head I was screaming to her. Screaming so that she could help the Doctor to save us all. But my lips did not listen. They ignored every word that I screamed except for one. They let slip only the word, "Help."

Chapter 3: Red


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Red

So things have gotten pretty crazy since I hopped into that blue box with this maniac. Mom always told me not to trust people who smile too much. ALL the red flags popped up when I first met the man who calls himself "The Doctor."

We were stretching on the field for our last practice before the championship game against New Jersey University's Herons. We had about another hour until sunset to run drills and plays. Nothing too strenuous planned tonight. The girls and I were standing in a circle bending to reach down to our toes. An unfamiliar voice from behind us stole my focus.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for the captain of this crew," said this new voice.

I turned to see a man standing there. Young guy, mid 20's at most. He walked towards me with this stupid gigantic smile. Average heighted man, a little too well dressed to be a college student, bobbing his head as he came down the field.

"I'm sorry, this is a closed practice."

"You don't look like any pirate captain I've ever seen," said the smiley man with a laugh.

My university loved pirate themed jokes, we were the Buccaneers and I grew very tired of the jokes. 'ARrrrrr you hungry' written in giant letters above the dining hall. The fencing team called the 'Swashbucklers'. The fans wearing eye patches on game days... Lame.

"Excuse me sir, but we have a game to prepare for."

"No no no, this will only take a minute," said the man.

The following couple of hours were very interesting. At first I didn't believe the things coming out of his mouth. Stuff like the opposing team being replaced by alien cyborgs from the future? Then something about if we lose the next match the planet Earth gets sold to auction by a race of intergalactic traders? But I begrudgingly followed him on this adventure. I mean - why not right? Just the day before the biggest game ever. Sigh... and I have a chemistry midterm next week that I need to study for!

I don't know what possessed me to follow this guy, but we found ourselves hiding in the lockers of the opposing teams locker room that night. The Herons began to file into the room one by one. They marched like wooden soldiers from that Christmas movie. Then they began to undress. I held my hand over The Doctor's eyes.

I whispered, "You sick pervert! Is this why we're here?"

"No no no! Keep watching."

The enemy team undressed and then removed their skins to reveal their real form. They were really these wire type robotic alien creatures. Shiny and silver with red eyes. The rest of the evening found us with a lot of running and fighting of these alien creatures all over campus. We had to destroy something The Doctor called "The Central Relay" which we eventually found in the bus that brought them here. A bus that turned out to actually be a spaceship! It was a fun evening, and we even got to rescue the actual New Jersey University Herons and then whoop their butts on the field the next day! The Doctor's giant, stupid, adorable, smiling face looked down on me from the stands. I don't know if he saw much of the match, seeing as he was wearing two eye patches.

After the match, we were heading to the lockers and he asked me if I wanted to go on a journey with him. He pointed at a giant blue phone booth. I laughed in his face, but I humored him anyway. Better judgment would tell me not to enter a random blue box with a strange man who talks to rabbits, but I can so take this goofball down if he tries anything funny.

"Captain Erin Crehan, we're going to a galaxy far, far away," he said as he motioned towards the blue box.

"Whatever you say," I laughed and entered.

And now I'm here. Blue women with goat horns, tiny green men, and did that old man just push a bunch of those kids to safety with his mind?

The bridge smashed to pieces and this black goo got all over the old man. He pulled out a sword made of green light that projected out of a metal tube. The blue girl stood in front of him with her blue light sword erected. I would later know these swords to be called lightsabers. The two stood in front of each other with their weapons drawn. Wait - what is going on? Weren't they like student and teacher or something?

Okay, I can do with the cyborg lacrosse teams, and I can even do with the race of light weapon wielding psychic warriors. But what I cannot deal with is - why The Doctor is touching her!

The blue girl with horns, Ceranus or whatever, stood still on the remnants of the bridge holding her lightsaber up in front of her old master. She was shaking and you could tell she didn't know what was going on. (Join the club sister.) The Doctor walked over to her and put his hands on hers. He cupped her hands over her shaking lightsaber.

I don't know what it was he was saying to her, but this is not alright! Yesterday he was all with the "You're special Captain Crehan. You're gonna save the world and the Universe... BLah, blah, blah..." And so I got into that blue box with him. It isn't that I like him or anything like that. It's all in the principle, I mean come on... Oh no, I have an exam to study for! Today is Friday so if I get home by...

::Weehee - Yoo::

::Weehee - Yoo::

It was the sound that darn blue box made. It was taking off without us!

"Doctor! The Tardis is leaving!" I screamed to him.

He looked back calmly and said, "It's all good Crehan, she's just moving to safety."

And I didn't blame it... her... The Tardis. This place was a wreck. These space shuttles pouring out of the sky and colliding into the city. Meeting the surface of the planet and cracking open like eggs. And out of these ships spilled people. People of all types. Other aliens I presumed; of different colors and shapes antennas, second heads, and tentacles and stuff.

In the courtyard where the Tardis was, another one of these ships crashed. Out of it poured people just like the others. They walked out of the crash, and stood up seemingly unscathed. I watched as a group of Jedi came to their aid. They walked hesitantly towards the group of crash survivors. The next thing I saw, the Jedi disappeared as the crowd of the survivors swept over them. I heard the young Jedi all the way from the bridge screaming for help. The people that spilled out of the ship moved as if they were possessed. It looked like a zombie movie down there.

"Doctor!" I screamed in panic.

"Don't worry. I promise not to let anything bad happen to you," he said with his eyes and hands still on that blue goat girl. (At least look at me when you talk to me!) - I thought to myself. I just don't get it! She is blue! Well she is tall and has a beautiful face. And fine, she has a rocking body... And I kind of want to touch her stomach and feel her abs...

Something stole my attention. I felt a rain drop on my face.

"Doctor!"

"Erin, it's going to be ok. I promise," again speaking to me without averting his gaze from Ceranus.

"No Doctor, not that. It's raining."

Back when we were on the Tardis he was worried about rain for some reason. He kept running through these number on the computer screen and said "Rain! Do I have an umbrella? Maybe in the library... A kitchen timer! That's what we need."

Somehow he convinced Ceranus to move. They backed away from the Old Jedi Master. They moved towards me, away from the fallen bridge. This Master Gilley did not follow us. He didn't even move. He just stood there staring at us. And I swear that I've seen that look before. It's like when you are squared up against another girl. Before the whistle blows to signal the beginning of a match, that look the other teams attacker during before the face-off. Master Gilley was sizing us up.

Ceranus stopped moving and looked back at her master.

"Ceranus, we need to get out of the rain," The Doctor began to bark orders. "We need to get to the secret basement below the North Tower. Crehan, set the timer for 15 minutes. Ceranus, can you take us to North Tower."

I winded the timer, but Ceranus did not move. The girl must have been in shock. The Doctor grabbed her arms and looked her in the eyes.

"There is nothing we can do for him now. I promise I will do everything in my power to return him to normal, but for now you need to get me to the North Tower. If not, this whole galaxy is going to turn out like your master"

"His eyes. He feels different. He needs me." The girl sounded like a zombie.

"Listen. Master Yoda said for you to get me to my ship. That was the last mission you were given Jedi. We just have to make a slight detour first. North Tower, come on, I need an escort."

The girl moved and led the way to the tower. Through the Main Tower to the North Tower. We reached an elevator. The Doctor stopped.

"Is everything alright?" I asked The Doctor.

"Yeah, it's just... I don't remember if I call this an elevator or a lift."

My palm hit my face. Something I had been doing a lot of lately. The elevator was not operational. Ceranus said something about emergency protocols shutting off certain things. The Doctor took out that tiny silver pen looking item he has. He calls it a "Sonic Screwdriver." It was like a tiny silver magic wand that a blue light shone out of. He waved it around the controls of the elevator.

"That won't work," interjected the blue girl.

"Voila!" The Doctor shouted out as the elevator doors opened. "Let's go save The Universe."

We were descending down.

"Doctor, I don't understand. That man pushed those 'Jedi' across the bridge with his mind? Where are we?" I was trying to figure things out.

"Oh my Captain Crehan. I have met countless civilizations in my travels. Some really strange ones including a planet that worships a helix shaped fossil and refuses to walk in straight lines. But I haven't met a group in the Universe who has it as right as the Jedi. They believe in this force that unites all things in the universe. Alive, organic, inorganic, dead... They have found a way to tap into this unifying force and are really at one with the Universe. And they get to wear these cool long robes!" He laughed. He laughed a lot.

The elevator rung and we reached the basement.

"This is the lowest basement Doctor. There is no lower basement. No secret basement," said the blue girl rudely.

Again, The Doctor waved his magic wand that he calls a screwdriver and with the flash of the blue light, the elevator started to move again.

"This is impossible!" she said.

"Get used to it," replied The Doctor with a wink.

The elevator doors opened as we reached the real basement of the Jedi Temple. A dimly lit hallway with immaculate white walls laid before us. Something felt weird. There was hesitation in my every step as I left the elevator doors. It was as if my body was telling me not to go forward. If I thought I felt weird, Ceranus looked even stranger. She grabbed the wall to catch her balance as she left the elevator.

Chapter 4: Brown


	4. Chapter 35

Chapter 3.5: Tardis Blue

The first time I heard it, I didn't pay the sound any mind. I thought it was the sound of the droids drudging up scrap metal from the yard.

::Vah-Whee-oosh::

::Vah-Whee-oosh::

You see, I live in a junk yard on a planet called Ferros. They taught us in school something about how when our solar system was formed, the planets became permanently magnetized. Because of that Ferros, the largest planet in the system, has a forecast of forever raining metal. They say that every piece of lost debris or wreckage from every ship in The Universe finds its way to Ferros. Because of that, having realty on Ferros is very important. Whatever lands in your backyard is yours for the keeping. My father has a sizeable junk yard that I work on. Ever since I was little I would tinker around with the newest items that fell into the yard. I always had a knack for inventing. Every droid that works in this field was either built by me or reconstructed by me in some way.

"Ahem!" said a woman's voice.

I wiped off some grease from my goggles the best I could as I looked around to see where the voice came from. I saw no one.

"Hello?" I called out into the yard.

" I said..."

::Vah-Whee-oosh::

::Vah-Whee-oosh::

I looked around for the woman's voice, but saw nothing. It wasn't very often that I saw a woman. Every once in a while I would take a landspeeder to the bazaar to get groceries, but there weren't many marrying age women here on Ferros. I was in no condition to meet a potential wife today. But when was I ever. Working in the yards, I always had grime and oil on my face and hair. My father used to call me "Sunspots" because of the way that grease stained my blonde hair. I straightened my grey one-piece jumpsuit.

"Where are you?" I asked.

"I'm standing right behind you."

I turned around to see a large, rectangular blue box. I walked towards it.

"Are you inside of that box?"

The doors opened, and I entered.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Brown

My mind was racing light-years ahead of me. I shouldn't be down here! I should be with my fellow knights. I should be fighting! We saw that group of knights get taken down by that... that mob. What is going on? This Doctor won't tell us anything, but I am sure he knows. I shouldn't have followed this Doctor. On that bridge, Master Gilley was asking me for help! But something didn't feel right. Every fiber in my body was telling me not to move towards him. It wasn't fear, more like a feeling. Master Gilley would always say, "When you are unsure of the correct path, close your eyes and follow your instincts. Let The Force guide you." On that bridge, I closed my eyes and followed my feet. And now, here I am descending with these strangers to a secret basement? What? I know every inch of this Jedi Temple, there is no secret basement.

::Ding::

The elevator doors open up onto this "secret basement." The white walls were barely lit up by dim lighting as we stared down the corridor ahead of us. Something felt very strange down here. The Doctor and his companion left the elevator first. As I walked into the hallway, my knees began to weaken. I had to catch myself on the wall.

"Cera, are you alright," The Doctor said as he looked back towards me.

"I'm fine. Let us just finish what we have to do and get you to your ship."

I regained my composure and started to walk down the corridor. The Doctor led the way, followed by his companion. It was hard keeping pace. It felt as if my connection to The Force had been severed. All my senses were dulled. It was like learning to walk for the first time. We rounded the corner to another long corridor that ended in an armored door. I recognized the craftsmanship. These were the same kinds of doors that the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center used to hold its most dangerous prisoners. Large Metal doors, about 15 feet high and several inches thick. I remember a tour I had of the prison, forced entry would activate a force field barrier and containment field.

"Doctor, why are we here?" asked his companion.

The Doctor was contemplated on the door. Moving that small tube he called a Sonic Screwdriver over the controls. The blue light it emitted shining over the keypad.

"Don't even bother," I started, when a sound started to come from the control module.

The Doctor looked my way and winked. Oh, how I despise this smug nerf herder.

The doors opened up slowly to reveal a shorter hallway with another one of these doors at the end. Whoever was being kept in this cell, was not meant to be visited easily. I tried to voice my objections, but my body was too weak.

"Crehan, do me a favor and catch Cera," said The Doctor calmly.

The next thing I knew, my legs completely gave in. I fell forward and into the arms of the red-headed companion.

"You'll get used to the feeling soon enough," he said with another wink.

The companion rested me against the wall. All I could do is watch as The Doctor opened the second door. Buttons beeped and lit up, as the door began to open. This triggered the first door to close behind us.

"No problem, we'll get that one on the way out," he said with a laugh.

As the new pair of doors opened up, a warm mist filled the hallway. The temperature immediately rose in the room. Through the mist, I could see the outline of The Temple's prisoner. He was a tall and thin brown creature of a race I did not know. He stood on two legs in the middle of his cell. His body looked like it was made of something harder than skin. He had markings engraved into his flesh, black marks in a language that I was unfamiliar with were carved into armor like skin.

"He looks like an ant!" Said the companion.

The Doctor stared at the creature. "Long time no see. I know I'm a bit early, but it is time for us to leave."

The creature did not respond. He slowly walked past The Doctor, and into the hallway. Erin stood closely behind The Doctor.

The creature walked slowly, hunched over. From here I could tell it was about 7 feet tall, but hunched over so much that he was barely over 6 feet tall. He wore a tattered brown cloak over pointed/ broad shoulders. The creature was skinny with a waste almost nonexistent. Very different than any species I have ever seen.

He stared past me to the door that had closed itself.

::Ding::

The companions "kitchen timer" went off again.

::Bang::

::Crash::

Loud crashing and scratching noises began from the other side of the door. I readied my hand on my lightsaber. We saw the door begin to dent from the other side as something tried to make its way in.

"Doctor! What do we do?" Said the companion as she grabbed onto his arm.

I fought to keep my balance and not have to rely on the wall to keep me vertical. Lightsaber in hand, I stared at the doors. The crashes continued and the door dented in easily. A set of fingers pierced its way through the doors and pried open an entrance. As the entrance widened, we saw the face of behind that went with those fingers, a rather a well dressed humanoid woman. She could have been a politician or a businesswoman. She pulled apart the doors, and more people began to flood into the room from behind her.

As far as I could see, they were all normal people. Not an organized military, but civilians from different planets, some races very rare, even on Coruscant. There must have been about 15 of them spilling into the room. They ran towards us, almost as if possessed. I was closest to the door, struggling to keep my balance independent of the wall. The Doctor and his clinging companion stood behind me in the middle of the room. The prisoner stood immediately behind them, newly liberated from his cell.

A Wookiee male ran towards me. Wookiees, a large bodied race covered in fur, that occupy the wild planet Kashyyyk. They are a people well known for their rich forests that they employ to create many useful medicines. An especially rare race in this part of the galaxy. I couldn't use my lightsaber on a civilian, so I dropped to the ground and swept at his legs. As he hit the ground and I started to rise back up. I was slower than usual. Something was still dulling my movements. A second humanoid female threw a punch at me. I darted to the left, and she was left punching into the wall.

::Crash::

The wall crumbled under this woman's strength easily as if they were made of paper. Her eyes then fixated on me. They were the same cold, white eyes that Master Gilley had on that bridge. I attempted to push her back using The Force, but I could not feel it. It felt as if The Force had forsaken me. It felt as if I were really alone in The Universe. There was no Jedi Order, no Master Gilley, and no hope.

"Cera! Get over here," Screamed The Doctor.

I turned and ran! I ran towards him. The mob of people at my heels. I remember hearing that strange whistle that The Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver made, and then I fell. I looked back, expecting to be overtaken by the mob, but they did not advance. They were trapped in a containment field, a foot behind me. They were ensnared in a circle of orange light that extended from the floor to the ceiling. A built in security mechanism of the prison that The Doctor activated. I watched as the mob slammed their fist into the field, trying to break free. The Doctor stared intently at the mob as they struggled to escape their prison. He was studying them, waving his screwdriver around them and looking up every once in a while to say things like, "Hmm." and "Okay, I thought so."

We started moving back towards the elevator, back to that first corridor. We were about 60-70 yards away from the elevator, but we could see that it was wrecked. Pieces of the door laid on the floor in front of us. Loose wires hung from everywhere. We continued to run towards it, when a flash of something crashed down from above the elevator shaft. It crashed down, flattening what remained of the elevator. It then pulled itself out of the shaft and started to move towards us. It was about 15 feet tall with razor sharp edges. The creature was so large, I could only take in pieces of the creature at a time. The creature was completely black stood on two legs with long sharp toes. It hunched over and still scratched the top of the hallway with its back. With a short snout and long arms that extended down to the ground, it was a terrifying sight. It dragged long, sharp nails on the ground as it ran towards us. It was a smaller version of the monster that latched itself onto Master Gilley. Now this is something I could use my lightsaber on! I was finally beginning to shake off that feeling from earlier and I had control of my senses again. With a flash of blue light, I extended my weapon and walked carefully towards it.

It swung its large hand at me. I did not think that I was in its range yet, but I was indeed in his reach. The creatures mighty arm swung down and I barely jumped backwards in time. The Doctor grabbed my arm as I landed and swung us into the wall of the hallway.

"What are you doing!" I yelled at him. He held me back against the wall, his companion holding onto his other arm. He pointed at the prisoner we just freed. The prisoner stood in the middle of the hallway staring at the creature. An eerie greyish-blue mist surrounded him. What followed was even stranger. The mist took the form of a large hand and propelled itself towards the creature. The creature was enclosed in the grip of a sharp hand manifested by the former prisoner. The hand tightened around the creature as it screamed. ""AAEEEEEEEEEEK." The hand tightened until the creature stopped screaming. The mist disappeared and the large black creature laid motionless in front of us.

The Doctor wanted to study the creature, but his companion pulled him away. She was scared, and I'll admit it, so was I. We awkwardly climbed up the elevator shaft to a higher basement floor. The Doctor took point followed by his companion. I came up third, followed by the strange prisoner. I always kept my eyes on him. We came to the next floor and I navigated us up a staircase to the ground floor. We stood in the entrance to North Tower, looking out down onto the city. It was raining. It had rained on and off these past couple of days, but nothing like this. The sky was beginning to darken and we looked out to see Coruscant in flames.

In the rain, and out of the darkness a figure moved towards us. I sensed him before I saw him. It was Master Gilley. He was followed by six other Jedi. I recognized them as the Jedi that were overtaken in the courtyard. Master Gilley moved towards us with his new cold and alien white eyes. He stopped in the pouring rain with the other Jedi behind him. We were under the shelter of the entrance to the North Tower and Master Gilley was less than 30 yards from us. I went to move towards him, but The Doctor grabbed my arm. He is getting a little too comfortable touching me. I thought to myself, if he touches me like this again, I'm going to have to take that hand of his off.

"The Doctor. That is what they call you right?" Master Gilley said firmly. The voice was definitely that of my Master, but the tone was alien to me. The Doctor walked towards him.

"And what can I call you? I know almost nothing about you," said The Doctor.

"Oh, but you are a smart man," started Master Gilley. "Amuse me and tell me what you have figured out."

"Well yeah, I put a few things together," said The Doctor excitedly. "Everywhere you guys go, it rains. And you do that scary 'Night of the Living Dead' thing to the citizens of those planets." The Doctor made this weird motion where he brought his arms up and walked clumsily. Erin laughed. I must have missed the joke.

As The Doctor spoke, Master Gilley walked closer to him. The Doctor skirted around the entrance, looked back, and gave us a wink.

"But what is it that you guys want?" The Doctor exclaimed throwing his hands in the air. "I figure that The Jedi are your appetizer before you get to your main course," The Doctor said as he pointed to the prisoner.

"And keeping with your metaphor Doctor, I guess The Tardis would be our dessert."

The Doctor did not like that and his mood completely changed. Gone was the light hearted child, as his tone turned cold.

"Well, I am canceling your reservation," and then his serious tone broke as he looked back towards us. "You get it Crehan! Cancelling their reservation! They really set themselves up for that one." The Doctor was laughing madly as his red-headed companion brought her hand to her face - rather quickly. I thought that it must have hurt.

"So tell me, how are you going to stop us," said Master Gilley coldly as moved towards The Doctor again. It was at this that I realized what Master Gilley was doing. This is something I had seen before. I thought back to when we were captured by that Gornosian slave trader on Sovello. And that time when we were cornered by that Atresian war lord on Atresia. He gets the enemy talking as he slowly closes the distance between them. He just needs to be within five yards. When his prey is in range, he takes one step forward with his left leg, and then in a flash of green, whips out his lightsaber and slashes through the unsuspecting victims.

"Doctor!" I yelled, but it was too late. Master Gilley _was_ within 5 yards. He stepped in and reached to his left hip to draw his lightsaber. It all happened too fast to see, but he reduced the distance between him and The Doctor with that first step. But there was no flash of green. His lightsaber did not extend. He passed by The Doctor, but swung the empty hilt of his lightsaber.

"An electromagnet!" The Doctor said. He was staring at his illuminated screwdriver. "I have been trying to figure that one out for a bit." He looked back to us, "Sorry to worry you Cera. It was just a simple matter of creating a dampening field and... Ehhhhhehh"

Master Gilley held his left hand out towards The Doctor. Another move I was familiar with. He was using The Force to choke The Doctor. The Doctor held at his throat and fell to his knees. Erin and I ran forward as the Doctor gagged.

"No, Master Gilley! Don't!" I screamed.

::Cough::

::Gag::

Chapter 5: Grey


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Grey

::Cough::

::Gag::

::Ahhh::

"Ehhh... I can't... Ahhhh... I'm... Just kidding," I said as I got up from the ground. The Master Gilley zombie person thingy in front of me was dumbfounded. He stepped backwards. "You see, my friend Fornicks over there creates a low level psychic field that severs your connection to The Force. All I had to do was amplify it."

I laughed and looked back towards my would be heroines, "Glad to see you two care." I winked. The girls love the winks.

"You seem to be at a lack for words, so I'll make this easy," I was using my big scary voice at Master Gilley. "I will be taking my new friends off of this planet. Then I will go and get my Tardis. And after that, I will come back. I will come back and collect all the black goo in the galaxy. I'll put it in a bottle, and then throw it into the nearest sun."

At this Yoda followed by about 20 Jedi came barreling through the rain.

"Onion-head!" I raised my arms in excitation!

"Doctor. Away from Master Gilley, back away. Bringing them in, we are."

"No," I said firmly. You guys need to leave. We can't let them get their hands on any more Jedi Masters."

Master Yoda looked over towards Fornicks.

"Master Yoda," interjected Master Gilley. "We are more than happy to surrender to you."

"Master Yoda, don't listen to him," I said. "You need to get all the Jedi off of this planet. Trust me." I gave Onion-head a little wink and the little hand gun signal.

Yoda belted out a gigantic laugh. It was comical that such a sound came from such a tiny creature.

"Master! I respectfully ask to be removed from this mission," said Cera.

"Mission?" asked Yoda.

"Yes, you asked me to bring him back to his little blue craft."

Onion-head laughed again and said, "To his Tardis, you will bring him."

I wrapped an arm each around Cera and Crehan and said, "There is always room for you in the Tardis Onion-head."

"Ahem," coughed Master Gilley in frustration.

"Yes, that's right. You're probably going to follow us. You are _not_ invited." I turned my head towards Cera, "Okay, we need a ship that will take us to my Tardis."

The six Jedi with Gilley walked towards us. The Jedi with Onion-head also stepped forward, confused as to why their lightsabers would not activate.

"Dampening field," said Crehan confidently. We both broke out in a laugh.

"Hold them off, we will. Get them to a ship Ceranus."

"Yes Master."

We ran through the rain. Cera was leading us to a nearby shipyard. I looked back towards Onion-head and the rest of the Jedi. The last thing I remember seeing was Master Yoda's large sheepish eyes winking towards me.

Chapter 6: Green


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Green

The first time that I heard the sound was on a very dark day for the Jedi Order. It was about 30 years ago. We received an S.O.S. from a group of biologist on a planet in the Outer-Rim called Hymeno. They were doing research on the social structure of native insects called Velum. The Velum were a group of large, brown insects; 15-20 feet from long from razor sharp jaws to the tip of their abdomen. They walked on six legs and were protected by a thick brown exoskeleton. A company named G.R.E.E.N. was funding their research, and had taken every precaution to protect these scientists. They hired groups of trained soldiers, erected force fields around the laboratory, and held strict guidelines to keep the scientists safe.

The S.O.S. came to the Republic, and we answered by sending one of our most trusted Jedi; Alanna Gemuri. She was to reach Hymeno and send back a report. A week had passed and we heard nothing. Our next move sent down a platoon of 3 Jedi Knights and 8 padawans. Another week passed, and nothing. Now that multiple Jedi were missing, we concluded that something serious was afoot. Many ideas were thrown around. Most popular were talks of sending in drop-ships with Republic soldiers and Jedi in numbers.

"Like this, I do not," I said.

"But Master Yoda. Serious military action must be taken," said a young Master Gilley. Master Gilley was new to The Jedi Council. Very rash and confident in his ability. "Let me lead a squadron of men and we'll turn that planet inside-out until we find our missing brothers and sisters."

"No. Go alone, I will." I had the final say as the eldest member and the rest of the Council backed my decision. Well most of them anyway. Master Gilley meant well. He was earnestly concerned for the missing Jedi and was eager to prove himself. But I could not put any more Jedi at risk. Plus, back then I was much younger. I was a whole 4 feet tall. My green skin was much deeper and my eyes were much more sharp.

The plan was for me to go to Hymeno alone, but there was a catch. Hymeno was dangerous, and something on its surface was preventing our Jedi from responding. The Republic had set up ships around the entire planet and was to fire on the planet if I did not return in 24 hours. These were new prototype battleships called Star Destroyers and 20 minutes of simultaneous/ continuous fire from a fleet of these Star Destroyers would turn even a large planet into a pile of asteroids.

I landed on Hymeno and began my hike towards the research facility. It was a large and dry desert planet with rocky terrain. The planet's surface could not sustain much vegetation and most of the wildlife consisted of insectoids that lived underground. I saw the lab in the distance from a high ridgeline. "G.R.E.E.N. Labs" was written in large green letters on top of a large, glass, dome shaped building. An insignia of a leaf outlined with the double-helix of a D.N.A. molecule decorated the front. The building reportedly had a force field barrier, but none could be seen from where I stood. The lab was in bad shape. There were large pieces missing out of the building. Large scrapes etched into stone and metal. Glass shards of the penetrated dome lay in the sand and reflected the harsh sun's light. Scraps from landspeeders and starships littered the areas behind the building. I identified remnants of the force-field generator, most likely ripped into by the jaws of a Velum. I began to approach closer to the lab.

And then I heard that sound from behind me.

::Cwuuh - uhCheek::

::Cwuuh - uhCheek::

I turned around to catch the site of a large rectangular blue box appearing out of thin air. I held my hand over my lightsaber hilt. A man's head popped out of the box and I first laid eyes on the man who calls himself "The Doctor."

"Whoa! They really did a number on this place," he said as his smiley head bobbed out of the door of his craft. "Well aren't you an adorable one!" I watched this man carefully. He lifted up a small metal tube that illuminated with a green light. He held the device to his face and started mumbling to himself. This device I would later know to be called his "Sonic Screwdriver." I drew my lightsaber and used The Force to pull him out of his machine with a wave of my hand. He hit the sandy terrain and laid on his back. I held my weapon to his throat.

"Hey, we're on the same side," he said to me. "We both want to know what happened to the research team."

"What you know about the research team - you will tell me," I demanded. My lightsaber shone in its usual brilliant green, still pointed at his throat.

"Awww, your accent is adorable. And so are your floppy ears! Could you be from Lannik? No, they don't have that accent..."

"Asking the questions, I will be."

After a couple more tiring questions, I assessed this man as not being a risk. I investigated his screwdriver, and it was indeed not a weapon. He showed great knowledge of the velum so I decided to let this man accompany me to the lab.

"I'll race you there!" he exclaimed as he ran towards the laboratory.

I however, approached the building with care and watched as The Doctor disappeared into the entrance. I then entered and began to carefully examine each room. The Doctor was nowhere to be seen during my search. The building looked as if it had been under attack. There were holes in the walls from blasters. Furniture and equipment was turned over. I walked by the main laboratory room. It had the remnants of many droids and robot arms. Scalpels and claws showed that this room was used for dissecting. In another room there were drawings of velum anatomy and books scattered around what was probably the library.

I moved to the basement where I saw a horrifying site. Jedi robes and lab jackets lay over crushed bodies. I looked into the log and accounted for all the deceased. This was no longer a rescue mission. All the researchers, soldiers, and Jedi that were sent to rescue them were killed. But something struck me as being peculiar about their bodies. The bodies were not ripped into by the claws of velum, but instead appeared to have been crushed by something. The sharp jaws of the velum would surely not leave the bodies this way.

I looked at the timer. A little under 17 hours to solve this and get word up to Captain Gallo. She was the Republic Fleet commander overseeing the Star Destroyers. She would not hesitate to destroy this planet if I did not respond in time. I somberly began to move back upstairs to look for more clues. I passed the main laboratory and made it to a room that appeared to be the auditorium. A small room with about 15 seats and a holoprojector that The Doctor was working on. He was shining his screwdriver on it and pressing buttons, seemingly at random.

"You're just in time for the movie Onion-head."

I sat down as the video started and one of the researchers was projected. She was standing inside of a Velum colony with large velum walking just a couple of feet behind her.

"Hello, my name is Leppi Pterra! Graduate student at Coruscant University! Go Rancors!" She was very excited about the velum and studying in Hymeno. She talked with a lot of enthusiasm. She had long black hair and pale purple skin. She wore a white lab coat over her small frame and sported large bangs to frame her bright orange eyes. I did not recognize her name from the log or the bodies downstairs.

"I'm thinking the same thing Onion-head," said The Doctor as he turned his head towards me, interrupting the projection. "She is still alive. She wasn't in the log because she isn't a G.R.E.E.N. employee. She's a student!"

Once again, this was a rescue mission.

The student continued, "Do not fear for my safety. The velum communicate via a weak psychic link, and by wearing this bracelet I am signaling that I am indeed a velum as well." She showed us her wrist that shined in a white bracelet. She then mimicked antennae on her forehead as she brushed the side of a large passing velum. The broadcast continued for a little bit. It spoke for a bit on the social structure of the Velum. They have a large queen that resides in the royal chamber. The queen is 80-120 feet long and lays hundreds of eggs per day. Then the rest of the velum are assigned jobs from scouting for food, defending the colony, tending to the queen...

"OH oh oh! Okay, the real reason why we are here today," Leppi continued. "Usually velum have 6 legs and are big. Like really big. But a few days ago a velum was born that stands on two legs! He was also like humanoid size. We are calling him Fornicks because he is like a bridge between velum and humanoid morphology. Dr. Spagna wants to collect him and do further studies on him."

The projection stopped and then the skipped to a projection of the main laboratory room. On the table was an insectoid creature with two arms and two legs. A creature very different from a Velum. He was strapped in and many men with white coats were standing around him.

"This isn't right! You're hurting him! He can talk! I've heard him! Put on the bracelet and you can hear him too!" Leppi came into view and had tears in her large orange eyes.

"Someone get this girl away from me," said a man's voice off screen. "If you want to be a scientist, you need to harden up your nerves girl."

Leppi was pulled out of the main laboratory room by a soldier. Back at the lab table, a circular saw descended from the ceiling, operated by a woman at a control module on the left of the room. The circular saw began to rotate as it descended onto the one they call Fornicks' chest. We saw the saw struggle to pierce the strange creature's exoskeleton. A blue mist started to protrude out of where the saw met his skin. The mist then shaped into a clawed hand, and crushed the saw. It then ripped the saw out of the ceiling. The creature then broke out of his harness. The blue mist filled the room and the scientist went flying in every direction. Shots from a blaster were seen off-screen, as the audio filled with screams and directions by soldiers. The projection cut off there.

"Our best bet at finding her would be the colony," stated The Doctor.

We used up too much time going through the projection. I had under 12 hours left now. The Doctor was going through some data and got us a path to the colony that Fornicks was born in.

"It's only about an hour walk from here. We might want to take a couple of..."

::Crash::

With a loud crash a large velum burst through the facility's wall. I had read about them and seen videos of them on the nature planet, but they didn't prepare me for the sheer size of the creature. Large and powerful, it moved quickly. It made a line straight at me. I pushed it back against the wall with a Force Push. The creature was strong, and rebounded off the wall and back at me. It closed the distance between us quickly and I jumped backwards, a hairs breath away from its snapping jaws. It followed me down a hallway. I used The Force to throw a lab table and a computer in its way. I ducked into the main laboratory. I saw the table that Fornicks had been strapped into during the video. I wondered where he was now.

::Crash::

The velum burst into the main lab room through the wall. I pulled out my lightsaber. I hated to kill the creature. Even going for one of its legs, would mean that the creature would die from not being able to fend for himself. I refrained from striking it. The velum charged at me and I jumped over it instead. The creature slammed into the far wall and turned its gaze upon me again. The Doctor appeared out of the wall that the velum created and ran past me towards a shelf in the back.

"Get his attention!" The Doctor screamed.

I threw the lab table to the back of the creature's head and then brought some equipment from an above console down on it. The velum jumped towards me. I had no way to escape. I pulled out my lightsaber, ready to deal a killing strike to the rampaging velum. I saw from behind the velum, The Doctor threw a small white sphere to the creature's back. The sphere opened up and a circular wall of white light surrounded the velum. The creature stopped it in its tracks. It was trapped in the white light.

"I was going to say we should take some of these portable containment fields." The Doctor said holding up another of those white spheres with a smile.

"To the colony, we must go."

"Yeah yeah yeah," started The Doctor as he was reading into some book. "Try on this white bracelet. I think it will go well with your eyes." He winked at me.

"Hmm... But only one bracelet, there is."

"Yeah, but that is okay. You go in first. I want to do a little more research on the fauna of this planet. This way I can talk biology with the purple girl." The Doctor said this with another wink.

I followed a console that The Doctor had rigged to show me where the colony was. By the time I hiked to the entrance, I had eight hours left on the timer. The entrance was a large mound made of jagged rocks. I began to descend through the dark tunnels of the velum colony. I was soon in complete darkness. I used The Force to navigate my way through. Many rocky tunnels were dug in a confusing labyrinth by inhabiting velum. I looked down at the bracelet as a line of 12 velum walked right past me. It seemed to work. I pulled up the console, which now gave step by step directions to the queen's chamber courtesy of The Doctor.

I entered the royal chamber and could make out the gigantic form of the queen. She was a large velum with an extended abdomen. She was the size of a ship with multiple smaller velum tending to her. They picked and groomed at her set of thin wings. Through the darkness, I used The Force to feel the rest of the chamber. It was large. Many tunnels on the walls extending from the chamber floor, saw velum traversing in and out. Velum moved past me and around the chamber. I extended The Force to search for Fornicks.

"What are you?" a voice rang. "What is this strange power you use? Are you like me?"

" Master Yoda of the Jedi High Council - my name is," I answered. "For the one responsible for the murders of a group of scientists and Jedi, I am looking."

"Murder?" The voice answered. " We do not have this word."

"Have this word - we do," I responded. "Written into our laws. Punishments for taking a life - we have. May I ask, to whom speaking am I?"

"You call us Velum."

At this, I felt every velum in the chamber set its attention on me.

"You feel like a velum. You wear the girl's band," said the voice again.

I worked to sense his location. I extended my feel of The Force all around the chamber. At a tunnel on the wall to my left, I felt a disturbance. It was an area The Force could not reach. More accurate, it was an area that The Force refused to move to. In the dark, I sensed this void in The Force. The void jumped down from the tunnel to land in front of the queen.

"But different from the others - you are," I said as I walked towards him working hard to sense him.

The chamber then started to illuminate in a grayish-blue light. I recognized it as the mist that destroyed the researchers' saw and lab in the video. The blue mist took the form of a hand and projected towards me. I jumped to the left. I rolled to regain my balance. I felt a nearby velum snap at me. I swung right out of his jaws. The velum all started to move at me. I was surrounded and vastly outnumbered. A situation I had been in before. I had to take out their leader. I had to take out Fornicks.

I couldn't barely see him, except for a grayish-blue blur in the distance. But I could sense where he wasn't. I could sense the void that The Force avoided. I was able to pinpoint him. I took out my lightsaber and its green light illuminated in front of me. I sensed around the cavern again. I threw my lightsaber. Guided by The Force, my lightsaber moved towards stalagmites above where the massive queen and Fornicks were. Sharp rocks then fell towards him. I used The Force to pull my lightsaber back to me.

The falling stalagmites descended towards where Fornicks and the queen lay. At this, the mist Fornicks expelled, expanded and illuminated the entire cavern. I could see a creature materializing in the mist. A large beast made of this mist itself. It had pale gray skin with razor sharp teeth. The sharp stalagmites fell into the creatures back, protecting the queen and Fornicks. Upon contact with the creature, the stalagmites disintegrated. The manifested creature was gigantic, dwarfing the queen and filling up the entire royal chamber. It had two large arms that grasped at the walls of the cavern. Its sharp fingers penetrating into the rocky walls as easily if they were made of sand. The same sharp claws that attempted to grab at me a moment ago were not reunited with their gigantic owner. It had a long dark mane running down its back and two sharp horns on its head. It was like no beast I had ever seen before. Large and terrifying. It roared with a horrifying sound.

::GRAAAWWWWR!::

The mist slowly receded back into Fornicks and the creature disappeared. As the mist and the creature shrunk, I could feel my connection to The Force start to disappear. I could no longer feel anything from The Force. I had devoted my entire life to my study of The Force, and all at once it was gone from me. I couldn't even stay on my legs, and fell backwards. I was left dazed by the abandonment of The Force from by body. I couldn't see anything except for the faint glow of grayish-blue mist disappearing back into where Fornicks was standing. I heard the steps and jaw snappings of approaching velum. I could then hear the entire cavern shake. I sat back against a rock as I was surrounded by velum. I didn't even have the strength to hold up my lightsaber as it dropped to my side. Again the chamber shook, but this time a hole was burst through the top. Bright sunlight hit my face.

Out of the hole descended a large worm type creature. The creature was massive, as big as the queen. But nowhere near as large as that grayish beast. The velum sprung upwards in a frenzy towards the large creature. The worm crawled down the cavern walls. I tried to get to my feet. I was starting to get used to the feeling. My control over The Force was still non-existant, but at least I could stand. With the creatures distracted, I grabbed my lightsaber. I started to move towards the exit. I looked at the timer. 45 minutes were left. I need to get off of this planet. I need to let Captain Gallo destroy this planet. This Fornicks is dangerous. He is the antithesis of The Force. He negated it. Severed my connection to The Force that I had trained in for over 400 years. He breaks the rules of the universe. There is something very wrong with whatever it is that is inside of him.

I fumbled against the wall, trying to make my way to an exit.

"There you are Onion-head!" said a voice from above. It was The Doctor. He was actually riding on that giant worm! And holding onto him from behind was the purple graduate student, Leppi.

"I told you I was going to get more familiar with the insects of this planet," The Doctor started. "This is an oligo. They are the natural predators to velum on this planet."

"Oligos are not insects," interrupted Lepi from behind The Doctor. "They are annelids."

"Whatever," replied The Doctor. "Onion-Head, you feeling alright?" The oligo reached the ground, and The Doctor jumped off and caught Leppi as she descended down the large worm as well.

The velum swarmed around the oligo, but the creature swayed its mighty head flinging them off with ease. The oligo made its way towards the queen, and the velum fought with ferocity. At this, I saw my opportunity. There was a gap in the velum, leading right to Fornicks. I began to move. I jumped over one velum, and slid under another. Fornicks had not seen me yet, too focused on the oligo. I erected my lightsaber and charged towards Fornicks.

I was about 20 yards away when he turned his head towards me. But he was too late. I had him. I jumped, lightsaber over my head. And then I felt something hit me in the head. I was suddenly surrounded by a white light, and couldn't move any further. Now, Fornicks stood about 10 yards from me, separated by this white barrier I was trapped in. I swung at the white light, but nothing. I was trapped in a containment field. It was The Doctor. He hit me with one of those portable containment fields.

"Sorry Onion-head," said The Doctor as he caught up with me. "You are going to have to trust me on this one," he said with a wink.

Chapter 7: Orange


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Orange

The small green one entered our colony. He proved to be quite formidable, almost bringing in the entire cavern on top of the queen and I. It seems my _passenger's_ presence incapacitated him though. But something else is nearing. The creature that my people call their predator. Large, slithering, white beast with multiple rows of sharp teeth. The orange-eyed girl calls it an oligo. We call it death.

With a crash, a large hole opens up in the ceiling of the cavern. The oligo descends as a black shadow surrounded by bright orange sunlight. All of my brothers and sisters begin to surround the creature as it crawls down the walls. We must protect the queen. We must protect the colony. It is our most basic instinct.

I sense anger from my left. The small green one has recovered. By the time I pinpoint his exact location, it's too late. I'm in range of his attack. I feel his resolution to strike me down. There is nothing I can do. I turn to accept my fate.

"Sorry Onion-head. You are going to have to trust me on this one," says a mysterious new voice.

As I turned, there was no flash of green from the small invader's light weapon. Instead, he appears suspended in a white bubble, trapped by a man standing next to him. But who is this man. His physical appearance is quite ordinary, but his presence is very strange. Not at all like the people who abducted me. Not even like the small green warrior. Instead, this creature seems alien. Alien to this galaxy. Alien to every feeling I ever sensed throughout the universe.

"Alien? Excuse me! Well... I guess that's appropriate," he says with a laugh.

But how? How can he understand what I am saying if he was not wearing the bracelet?

"Haha, that is because you didn't say anything. You thought it," he held up a piece of paper.

"You are able to communicate with me the way I do with my brothers and sisters."

"Yeah, it's not that difficult Brownie. The Tardis translation circuit is transcribing the psychic waves you are emitting, and they are being displayed onto my psychic paper," He waved around that piece of paper again, and then looked up. "Sorry about the hole Fornicks. Make sure you send me the bill," he said that last part with a wink. The oligo was being forced out of the hole it came in through by a group of my sisters. The queen was safe, for now.

This man was strange. He rode an oligo into our colony, but stopped the green warrior from attacking me. I tried to read more into him, out of curiosity. I used the passenger's power to amplify my own. I spread my psychic field around him. "That tickles," he said with a laugh as he was surrounded by mist.

I saw his entire existence. He is a creature that is extremely old. Older than my passenger. This man, "The Doctor", was a traveler. He traveled through space and time in an impossibly large blue box. In his eyes, I was able to see more worlds than I ever imagined existed. I saw worlds he has saved, filled with people who called him a savior. But at the same time, I saw just as many worlds with inhabitants that cursed his name. He went by many names throughout the universe; The predator, the coming storm, The Doctor, and then a name that fewer knew...

"Whoa whoa whoa, that's a spoiler Brownie!" he said to me frowning down at his piece of paper.

"What is it that you want from us?" I asked the man.

"I am here to avoid any more unnecessary bloodshed," The Doctor replied.

"You say this, but you come with the man who desires my head!" I pointed at the small green warrior. I felt the passenger stir within me. It reacted with my anger. His arm began to form, as that greyish mist surrounded me. It flung out at The Doctor. I saw the girl catch up to him. Innocent Leppi. The only member of those "researchers" that stood up for me. She stood behind him and grabbed onto his arm. She gave me a small wave and a smile. I had to fight my passenger. I could not let it hurt Leppi. I held it back. The mist receded.

"You see, I know you aren't a bad person Fornicks," The Doctor started. "Leppi here and I have been talking. You only killed those soldiers and Jedi out of self defense. You held the research team and their security as prisoners in the basement for weeks. When they united with the Jedi, there was nothing else you could do to protect yourselves. You let the reins on that creature inside of you slip."

"They had killed many of my brothers and sisters and justified it as science! I didn't want their blood. I was to hold them prisoner!" I was infuriated. Barely able to control the passenger, but I had to.

"Control it Brownie! You are stronger than it. That creature feeds on fear and suffering."

I saw into The Doctor's eyes again. He was familiar with the creature inside of me. It inhabited this planet thousands of years before my species even existed. It was worshipped by this planet's previous inhabitants. They offered it sacrifices and let it use their children as it's host. I learned that the creature had been looking for a new host, and used my birth to come back into this world.

"That is right Fornicks. It is evil, and you are good," exclaimed Leppi with tears in here eyes. "You just happened to be born with this curse."

The girl cried for me, just as she did back in the lab. I looked into both of their eyes. I learned of a group of crafts named Star Destroyers, laying in orbit around our planet. I learned of their plans to demolish our planet if they could not find the person responsible for the deaths of their researchers and Jedi. It was at this that I knew what I had to do. It was our most basic instinct. Protect the queen and protect the colony.

::Pop::

The bubble around the green warrior burst and he was set free. He walked beside The Doctor and Leppi.

"More blood - there does not have to be," sighed the green warrior slowly. He then picked up a small machine.

"Can I? Please! Please! Please!" said The Doctor excitedly as the green warrior handed him the device.

"Ahem! Destroy the planet - you will not," said The Doctor, gleefully imitating the green warrior's voice and accent. He did a little dance and jump in excitement.

And so in the end we made a deal. I was to go back with the green warrior to his planet and serve a 100 years sentence. The Doctor also promised he would find a way to remove the passenger from me.

"I promise to search every star and every asteroid until I find an answer on how to get that creature out of you."

And now we are here. About 70 years before my sentence is up, The Doctor has freed me from my prison. But why today? His soft brown eyes looked back at me and I could see the reason. A new threat has appeared. In The Doctor's eyes I saw a black shadow that appears, as rain clouds eclipse the suns of unsuspecting planets. The Doctor has seen worlds fall to this shadow, and has traveled back in time to correct the order of the Universe. The Doctor is now a creature that is a slave to the flow of time. Instead he laughs at it. He has traveled to today, because today is the day when the black shadow was supposed to fall on me. Today was the day that the black shadow got a hold of the passenger. Today was supposed to be that day anyway. The Doctor has other plans in mind.

Chapter 8: White


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: White

Soaking wet from the rain, we reached a ship yard. Following me were The Doctor, Captain Crehan, and the large walking insect/ prisoner that The Doctor called "Fornicks." We were able to procure a Geonosian Cruiser. From the cargo seemed to belong to a merchant or trader of some sort. It was a large, sharply angled ship. Five engines and four wings to the rear of the ship, shaped their way to a point towards the bridge at the front of the ship. The Doctor fumbled around with the hyperdrive coordinates as we lifted off from the planet. He was plugging in coordinates for his craft, read off to him by his screwdriver. I didn't understand the technology, and honestly - he sounded mad. He talked as if his ship had a mind of its own. As if it left the planet of its own free will and was playing a game of hide and seek with us.

"Now, what is my Tardis doing all the way over there?"

I looked down, past the heavy rain clouds, to see the wreckage that was Coruscant. The Republic's mobilized soldiers and Jedi Knights were running around subduing the civilians, who were seemingly under that same mind control that Master Gilley was. Even more formidable, I looked down to see those large/ sharp black creatures tearing through the city. Some much larger than the ones we saw in the basement of the Jedi temple.

"Okay crew," The Doctor addressed us all on the comfortable bridge of the ship. "My Tardis is on a planet called Ferros. At hyperspeed it will take us about eight hours to get there. That is a little slow for my taste, so Erin is going to have to come up with games to entertain me so I don't get bored."

The Doctor and his companion left the bridge. The bridge was an open, oval room with large comfortable chairs. I sat down across from Fornicks. I wondered - why did The Doctor want to bring this prisoner aboard? Fornicks said nothing, and merely stared out the window at the white blurs that represented stars we passed by, as we moved faster than light through the galaxy.

I sat there for about an hour. It was beyond frustrating! Why am I here!? I'm following this crazy man around the universe looking for a tiny blue box! Okay, fine! He was pretty impressive standing up to Master Gilley like that. And he did demand Master Yoda's respect. He is probably in the other room right now figuring out a tactic to reverse all of this madness. Let me give him the benefit of the doubt.

I left Fornicks alone on the bridge and moved towards the back of the ship to find The Doctor. I heard his companion's laugher coming from the living quarters. I walked in to give some input. After-all, as a Jedi Knight I am trained in basic battle strategy and have seen my share of combat. I wonder what kind of plan The Doctor had come up with.

I turn the corner to find The Doctor sitting on a bed with the companion standing over him with a stopwatch.

"That's 80 seconds!" exclaimed Erin. "20 more seconds to the record!"

The Doctor was balancing his screwdriver on top of his nose and Erin was timing his progress. This was the war council they were holding? They were _actually_ playing games! I left Coruscant to help them! I left Master Gilley and my fellow Jedi to their fates! I abandoned innocent people! And this bumbling idiot is here playing games!

"What are you doing!" I screamed. I am here wasting my time when I could be fighting with my fellow knights. _Why_ did I think this man was anything different? Anything special?

"Captain Crehan," The Doctor started as he stared at his companion. "Can you give Cera and I some time alone?"

The companion left the room. The Doctor remained on the bed balancing his screwdriver on top of his nose. I was shaking with anger. Frustrated, I smacked his screwdriver off of his nose.

"Right now! You are going to give me answers!" I was screaming loudly, and I was sure that Erin and Fornicks could hear me from the bridge. I did not care.

"Alright Cera. If you would," he started as he tried to calm me down. He stood up and grabbed my shoulders, leaning in closely to me. I pulled my arms away and pushed him back down onto the bed.

"My name is Ceranus! And you will not touch me like that!" Tears began to swell in my eyes. I thought of everyone back on Coruscant. All the other Jedi that I served with. I thought of Master Gilley, being controlled by that black substance. I thought of his white eyes, and wondered if he was still alive in there.

I don't know what compelled me, but I reached to my left side for my lightsaber. The Doctor saw and reacted. He stood and reached his hand over mine, stopping me from drawing my weapon. We began to struggle. As I pulled my weapon free, he twisted my hand, and my lightsaber went tumbling to the floor. He kicked it underneath the bed. I then went for his neck with both of my hands. He intercepted me, and caught me by the wrists. He was stronger than he looked. He squeezed my wrists tightly and pulled me towards him.

"Cera, you have got to get your emotions under control. Whatever it was that took over your Master, it is in you. It is in all of us. I have a theory that it is a pathogen that travels through the rain. In low doses, your body should be able to fight it, but you have been stressed. Between your emotions and being hit by Fornick's psychic field, the pathogen is winning."

"Do not call me Cera!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I could not control my emotions or my hands.

"Cera, you are thinking too much. You have been through a lot, but right now you need to free your mind."

I was slowly overcoming The Doctor's and my hands were getting closer and closer to his him. I forced him back against the bed until I was on top of him. My hands were getting closer. My arms were moving on their own. I couldn't fight it. My knees were on his chest now and my fingers were inches away from his throat. He pulled my arms to the side and pushed me over to the side. We swtiched places, and now he was on top of me. My arms were pressed to my sides and he was crouched over me.

"Cera, clear your mind!" he screamed to me. But I couldn't. He came closer to me and pressed his lips against mine. I felt his soft lips on mine. They were warm. I couldn't even remember the last time I had been kissed like this. The last time I had physically been this close to a person. Before I knew it my mouth opened, and I was receiving his kiss. What the hell was I doing? I heard the door open.

"Okay! I have nothing against aliens, but that guy just won't speak to..." the companion walked in and saw the scene. "Umm... never mind." She left in a hurry back out the door. I pushed The Doctor off of me, onto the floor.

"Don't you ever do that again!" I said flustered. My face was red hot - my lips still twitching.

"You needed to stop thinking, and I'd say - mission accomplished," said The Doctor with a laugh.

This Doctor was disgusting! I hated him! This foul, opportunistic jerk! But it had worked. I no longer felt any control over me. Regardless, I stormed out of the room and back into the bridge where Captain Crehan and the prisoner were. The companion shot me a strange look as I entered. The Doctor walked in shortly after me.

"Are we there yet?"

Chapter 9: Yellow


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Yellow

I must have been inside of there for hours. I could not believe the technology! A center console was ascended in the center of the large, circular, cockpit. She had given me permission to open up the console. If my calculations were correct, this tiny blue box was generating a ridiculous amount of power. And is that a tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator?! This craft is amazing! And huge! Well compared to the outside, anyway.

"Who are you calling huge?" said the voice of the woman from before.

"Whoa, sorry. I still need to get used to that," I laughed.

We continued like that for hours. I was so lost exploring the controls of the ship that I barely heard the door open up behind me. A head popped into the cockpit. A dark skinned man with short brown hair poked his head in with a frown. He was holding a small silver tube that illuminated with a blue light. He pointed the light towards me.

"Who are you? Get out of there," said the man I would later know as "The Doctor." I pulled my head out from inside of the center console and stood up.

"Guess daddy's home," laughed The Tardis.

"Whoa, it's bigger on the inside," said a tall blue woman. I didn't recognize her species but she was beautiful with golden horns. An exposed midriff showed that she was in incredible shape!

"You'll get used to it," said a beautiful woman with bright red hair. Finally, some marrying age women have arrived on Ferros. I tried to fix my grease-stained blonde hair into something presentable. I then looked down at my horribly oil-stained silver jumpsuit that draped over my skinny shoulders. I wish I had known. I would have worn a clean jumpsuit at least.

"This isn't what it looks like!" I tried to explain, as I nervously put wires back into the compartment. The Doctor walked up right towards me, as I closed the console door. He was not happy. He was inches from my face.

"How dare he get jealous!" complained The Tardis. "I'm here playing chauffer as he escorts other woman all around the Universe! And a few weeks ago, he flew me through a blackhole! But did he ask me if I care? Did he ever ask me where I want to go? Did he ask me if I minded taking his little companions on road trips!"

"Hahaha!" I laughed. "Did you really fly through a black hole?"

"Who are you talking to?" said The Doctor.

"You guys can't hear her?" I asked.

"Hear who?" said my beautiful, red-headed, contender for future wife.

"Wait... You can hear The Tardis?" asked The Doctor.

"Yeah. Can't you guys?" I asked as I looked up at The Tardis roof.

"It's not like he would listen even if he could," joked The Tardis.

The Doctor stared at me for a moment. He scrunched his face up and then spun around on his heels. He made a few weird noises, as is he were thinking and then ran into a back room. I didn't even know there were other rooms! We heard crashing and bangs from the back, until he finally came back with a small silver ball.

"This is a psychic sphere," The Doctor said as he threw the ball to me. "It is a children's toy on my planet. It's kind of like a rubix cube... with a twist."

I looked at the ball. It had two small blue lines on it. The Doctor explained that the idea of the toy was to line up the two lines, one after another, so that then ends met and formed a longer line. The small ball had panels that rotated to make this possible. The problem was, every turn you rotated, the ball would get a turn. And the ball rotated to prevent you from lining up the blue lines.

"Even the smartest Time Lords on my planet take almost a whole day to crack a psychic ball," started The Doctor. "I can actually do it in 3 hours..."

"Finished," I said as I threw the ball back to The Doctor. It wasn't too hard. It took me about 14 rotations, maybe 40 seconds. The Tardis and my red-headed future girlfriend both let out a laugh. The Doctor was frowning again.

"I hope his stupid face gets stuck that way," laughed The Tardis.

"Who are you?" asked The Doctor bewildered.

"My name is Dowitcher Ibis. But you can call me Dow. I am kind of a scavenger... and inventor."

The Doctor explained to me that I am something called a "Technopath." It is the reason that I was always good with machines and computers. I can communicate with technology, and The Tardis' psychic field amplified my abilities.

"Your Tardis really is amazing," I said to The Doctor as I stroked a side panel. "If I were you, I'd treat her better."

"Do not tell me how to treat my Tardis!" he objected.

The Tardis started to shake violently. Buttons started to beep and light up in fury.

"I think you two have a lot to talk about," I said as I walked out of The Tardis to give them some privacy. My 2 contenders for girlfriend followed behind me as we left The Doctor and his Tardis alone. I had been in The Tardis for so long, that the sunlight from outside hurt. When my eyes adjusted, I saw a tall, brown, insect looking alien standing outside. I had not been to any planets other than Ferros, but even I knew that this brown alien was strange. I just hope he isn't the boyfriend to either of these two girls. He didn't speak.

"I never got your names," I said as I bowed to the two girls. I can't believe I bowed! How lame! This is what happens when you have no experience talking to girls. I raised my head and they stared at me awkwardly. I extended my hand to the beautiful girl with blue skin, who I would later know as Ceranus. She gave me an even stranger stare.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," I said as I took off Gauntlet from my right arm. "I call it Gauntlet. It was formerly a droid arm that I had calibrated to my own nervous system. It is extremely cool... and useful. It has hundreds of uses. On board computer, soldering iron, tons of tools... I use in my everyday work in the yard... It's like a portable droid."

I realized that I was doing all the talking. But I was proud of my Gauntlet! It was one of my first inventions. It belonged to the arm of an old protocol droid we had. My Gauntlet was bronze, and sleek, and I had been upgrading it with new features every chance I could. The girls were not as charmed.

"So... You guys want to see some of the other projects I have been working on?"

"They are here," rang a loud male voice in my head.

"Did you guys hear that?" I said as I shook my head.

"Yeah," said the beautiful red-headed woman, that I would know as Erin. I followed her eyes and saw three pieces of debris streaking across the atmosphere.

"Oh no, that always happens here on Ferros. You see, there is something about the magnetic field of this planet that..."

"No!" rang that same loud male voice in our heads.

"Fornicks?" said Erin confused as she looked towards the brown alien.

The pieces of debris started to move strangely. They started to zig and zag through the atmosphere and made a direct line towards us. Seconds later, they were visible as ships that were making a deliberate line towards us.

"Here we go again," said Ceranus as she pulled out a lightsaber. She is a Jedi?! So hot!

The three ships landed around us, each about 500 yards away. Out of them came people. People of all different races. Many species I did not recognize. Women, children, men, tall races, short races... about 30 people in each ship. The red-head ran back towards the blue box and started knocking. I heard the faint sound of music coming from the box.

"Doctor! Get out here!" she screamed.

They started to surround us and they made a circle around us in a radius of about 50 yards. We were surrounded. We all stood in front of The Tardis. The one they call Fornicks and the Jedi stood the most frontward, towards the surrounding mob. It started to rain.

"Hello? Excuse me, but this is private property!" I explained to the mob around us. They stood silent.

Erin was trying at the door and knocking with furor.

Out of the top of the two ships that laid in front of us, we saw claws emerge. Long, black, and sharp claws that ripped open the hulls of their vessels like a feizard emerging from an egg. They pulled their bodies out to reveal their large mass. They were strange looking creatures. They didn't seem to have any true form, and the blackness of their bodies shifted. Tall sharp moving creatures. One from the west moved on all fours, while the one from the north moved on two.

"Doctor! Get out here now!" Erin screamed from behind me.

The creatures started to move quickly. The one on four got to us first. The mob parted to allow it to pass. Fornicks waved his right arm, and a flash of blue mist struck out and sliced the creature in half. The second creature jumped upwards, over the crown, and onto the top of The Tardis. Erin jumped backwards into my arms. Her hair smelled really good. Like a rare and exotic fruit I have never smelled before. The creature let out a devastating roar.

"EEEEEAAAAAAAKKK!"

The creature jumped down, and I put myself between Erin and the creature. We walked backwards away from it. I looked backwards as Ceranus ran past us towards the remaining creature. She extended her lightsaber and passed by the creature, emancipating its leg from its body. The creature fell to its arms and its remaining knee. Its sharp head inches from Erin and I. It had no real face, but it's head opened up to show dark teeth, again, without any true form. From above the creature, Ceranus descended, and with a slash decapitated the dark beast.

"What is all this racket?" said The Doctor as the Tardis doors burst open. "My Tardis and I were having a conversation!" He appeared disheveled. His tie was loose around his neck and the first couple buttons of his shirt were undone. He had a stupid little grin on his face. He then looked out to see the bodies of the two dark beasts in front of us. He then shot his glance to behind The Tardis.

That same roar was heard from the third ship.

"EEEEEAAAAAAAKKK!"

Out of the ship emerged another of those creatures. This one had the barrel of his ship's cannon attached to it's arm. It was pointed at our party. It fired. The ship and creature were about 500 yards away, but there was no way to dodge it. The Doctor jumped in front of where Erin and I stood. I closed my eyes and heard the blast fire.

It should have been over. I felt Erin's hands clench onto my right arm from behind me. I opened my eyes. In front of me was The Doctor with his hands shielding his face. And in front of The Doctor was Fornicks, with his hand extended and a greyish-blue mist creating a barrier that shielded us from the blast. It may have been my imagination, but the barrier appeared as a giant hand?

The creature took aim to fire again, but it didn't fire. Instead it slumped down, over its ship like a wilted plant. The civilians that surrounded us also all fell over. They laid on the floor in a circle around The Tardis.

"Doctor?" started Erin, "What is going on?"

"I don't know Captain," said The Doctor bewildered. "Let's get back into The Tardis."

We all ran in. The Doctor and Erin first, followed by Ceranus. Fornicks and I brought up the rear.

"Now that I have my Tardis, we can get to the middle of this," started The Doctor. "Cera, start to input the names of all the species and all the makes of starship you saw."

"Okay," Ceranus began to recount. "We saw a Kanzian transport... Umm... A Hillucian cargo ship..."

"And a Wookie," said The Doctor calmly. "Put in Kashyyyk."

"And we saw that big, brown, hairy think at the Jedi temple!" exclaimed Erin.

"That would be a Wookie," laughed The Doctor as he rubbed Erin's head.

"Oh, sorry. I'm still new to this," blushed Erin.

"Hey! Why are you here?" shouted The Doctor as he turned around, just now realizing I was inside. "Get out of my Tardis!"

"You need me," I replied. "Do you even know what they are?"

"Of course!" The Doctor snorted. "It is some type of pathogen. A bacteria or a virus that travels in the rain and..."

"Nanomachines," I said smugly. "That is why Ferros' magnetic field shorted them out. I've never actually had the chance to work with nanites, but I imagine they rely on communicating with each other by perpetuating a signal to each other from a central relay. Ferros' magnetic field would interrupt that signal."

"NO!" the Doctor exclaimed adamantly. "There is no more room."

"Oh! So you decide who gets to ride do you!" exclaimed The Tardis angrily. The others could not hear what she said, but she started to shake violently again in protest to The Doctor's obstinacy.

"Okay, Okay! Fine!" said The Doctor as he gave up. "But we are going to need a plan."

The Tardis landed and The Doctor handed us "umbrellas". What an interesting invention. Wish I had thought of it. The doors opened and The Doctor walked out with Erin on his arm. They skipped out of The Tardis, shielded from the heavy rain by a black umbrella. There were only two umbrella, so I extended my arm towards Ceranus.

"Try and touch me and I'll cut your hand off."

Okay, so no touching. That's alright, as long as my mom doesn't mind having a Jedi daughter-in-law. Fornicks walked out into the rain behind us, without an umbrella. The scene was interesting. The planet was wild with plant life. A deep and dense forest surrounded us, with large roots that broke up a landing pad underneath The Tardis. Ahead of us, barely visible over the flora, was a large research facility. We approached closer to reveal about 20 buildings, ranging from a single level to ten stories tall. We appeared to be at the front of the main building. A large dome shaped building with the name "G.R.E.E.N." embedded onto the front. The large facility probably took up the better part of a mile. In the rain, in front of the main door, stood two young scientists wearing white lab coats. On the left of the door stood a short blue alien with large white eyes that covered almost his entire face. He stood about 3 feet tall, and his lab coat hung down to the floor and was covered in mud. He carried a clipboard and stared out at us, blankly. On the right was a young orange skinned girl, whose lab jacket flattered her form well. She had short and curly light brown hair and a beautiful face. She would most definitely been future wife material, except she also had those haunting white eyes.

"Hello All!" exclaimed The Doctor with a wave to the two young scientists as we approached. "We are here for the tour."

"We have been expecting you Doctor," said the orange girl gleefully. "Right this way."

"Erin," whispered The Doctor. "Can I keep her?"

"Now behave yourself Doctor," joked Erin. "Or no gift shop for you!"

Chapter 10: G.R.E.E.N.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: G.R.E.E.N.

"Genetic Resource Engineering and Enhancement Network." The building had an insignia of a D.N.A. double helix that unwrapped to become a leaf. I don't know. To me, it looks like they were trying very hard to make it spell out "Green." But here we are on another alien planet. This one covered in lots of vegetation. We reached this "G.R.E.E.N." research facility and were welcomed by two young scientists. Students or something. A little blue guy and an orange girl awaited us at the door the facility. They both had those white eyes. The same as the other possessed people we had run into. The place was HUGE! Multiple buildings made up this lab, with the center one being a large dome-shaped building. Between them we could see wild vegetation rampaging. Vines and trees stretched up, penetrating and hiding different labs.

"Erin," The Doctor whispered over to me. "Can I keep her?" he said referring to the young orange scientist.

"Now behave yourself Doctor, or no gift shop for you!" I joked.

The tour we were on took us to multiple buildings and multiple types of labs. We first entered a floor that had equipment designed to change precipitation to allow different types of vegetations to grow. The orange girl skipped in front of us. We followed the white tails of her lab coat as we entered the next building. She was super bubbly and super annoying. Smiling at The Doctor with her little dimpled cheeks.

"And the inner module releases the molecules when it reaches the upper atmosphere?" The Doctor asked the orange scientist girl curiously.

"Yes! That is completely correct," said the Orange girl with a wink. "You are so smart!" She winked at him! The nerve! I mean, come on - have some respect for yourself sister. But whatever. Why should I care? He can keep his little orange zombie girlfriend. And them and his new blue girlfriend can all fly through space together!

"Hey Erin, you are falling behind the tour," said Dow. This tiny blonde nerd kid we picked up on the last planet. I used to beat up people like him back in high school. Well, that was before I became a beautiful and sophisticated woman. I guess he was kind of adorable, in like an unassuming, quirky, genius-y way.

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

There were other scientists walking around the buildings, seemingly aimless. They walked around, and would mindlessly press buttons on computer screens or continue repeating phrases like, "We need to recalibrate the specs," or "Mondays are the worst." I even saw one scientist continually open and close a cabinet door.

"Keep in up Cissel," said the male blue tour guide to the "Monday" man.

The next building brought us into a large auditorium. The lights went out, and we were expected to find our seats. Our two guides left us as the projection started. I sat down in the front, next to The Doctor. Dow quickly sat on the other side of me. I looked back to find Cera finding a seat in a back corner. She had that same, stuck up look on her face. I mean, come on - you can smile sister. Fornicks took a seat on the other corner of the auditorium. The movie started.

"Hello and welcome to the G.R.E.E.N. Labs facility on planet Chloranto," an older, but beautiful scientist woman with purple skin began to speak in the projection. She had dark black hair tied back, with strands loosely falling over her lab coat collar. Her beautiful orange eyes were framed on her face by a set of sharp bangs.

"Hey Fornicks, look its Leppi!" screamed The Doctor to the back of the room. Just great! Another colorful alien girl for The Doctor to swoon over... Not that I care.

The scientist from the movie was named Doctor Leppi Pterra. I wondered how The Doctor knew her. Is the universe really that small? The speaker explained that this lab was concerned with a science called Geo-engineering. Pretty much, the idea was that they used some scientific flying-probe thingy to fly into the clouds and make it rain so that crops could grow. The video was long. I drifted in and out of sleep maybe five times. But what I do remember from the video was that G.R.E.E.N. Labs is usually working on modifying vegetables so that they can grow in different environments on different planets. Something about ending hunger on planets that have harsh environments. Other than that, they did lots of other research projects like investigating the flora and fauna of other planets. I remember waking up for this one part where there were these giant ant-like things walking around and grooming a giant ant queen.

Loud applause woke me up. I looked up to see that the video had ended. The Doctor was now wearing 3-D glasses. I'm pretty sure that none of the movie was in 3-D, he must have brought them himself. The orange girl re-entered the auditorium.

"Any questions?" she asked.

At this, The Doctor and her must have gone back and forth about a million times. The Doctor eventually asked her about Nanomachines, which the Orange Girl denied any knowledge of. Dow then chimed in with a few questions, and it was back to sleep for me. A tap on my shoulder woke me up. It was Dow again, smiling down on me awkwardly.

"Leppi is here," said a voice in our head. It was kind of terrifying the first time that Fornicks spoke to us through our minds, but now I thought it was pretty cool.

"OOH! Is she!" exclaimed The Doctor.

"Oh yes. Dr. Pterra is the head researcher of this lab," responded the girl. "She is in the next building. Follow me."

We followed her into the next building. It was like a parking lot for spaceships. No, I have to get the lingo correct. It was a "Hangar Bay." There were multiple ships of different shapes and sizes, all with the G.R.E.E.N. insignia on it. In the middle stood that purple scientist woman.

"Hello Fornicks! Doctor!" exclaimed the woman. We were close enough to see that she was indeed the woman from the video. Except, she did not have those large and bright orange eyes. Instead, she had the same white eyes that our tour guides. She stood alone in the hangar as we approached her.

"Look at you Leppi!" said The Doctor with a whistle. "You are a full-fledged Scientist! They grow up so fast."

"Doctor!" I screamed. "She is one of _them_!"

"Now don't be rude Captain," he replied.

"No Doctor she is right," said Leppi as she approached. "And soon so shall you. I will have you Doctor, Fornicks, and your Tardis."

Cera stepped forward in front of The Doctor and whipped out her lightsaber.

"No Cera!" The Doctor screamed as he grabbed her lightsaber wielding hand.

"Leppi, are you in there?" said that voice in our heads. I could hear honest concern in Fornick's message.

"My dearest Fornicks, you will come with me," said Leppi as she extended her arm.

"I don't think so," said The Doctor.

"Yeah, and why would he want to go with you!" I said with my arms crossed.

"He will come with us because it is in his instincts." Leppi said as she snapped her fingers. At this, a black cloud rushed into the hangar and above us. The black cloud started to shift, and images started to appear. In the image we saw that giant ant queen, the one from the video. Except she didn't look well. She was hunched over and not being attended to by the other ant-creatures. The image zoomed out to reveal a giant black pillar that was penetrating her middle section. The giant black pillar swirled and flowed into the queen's back like flowing water. It seemed like it was alive. Fibers exploded out of the pillar like smoke from a column of fire. The queen wailed in agony.

"Fornicks, we will go together. But you have to trust me," pleaded The Doctor.

"Can you trust him Fornicks?" started Leppi. "To get here, The Doctor was most likely inputting into his computer, planets where he knew we visited."

"You left a trail of breadcrumbs right to your door," joked The Doctor.

"Yes Fornicks, but while he was putting in planets - did he once say Hymeno? Did he once mention your planet?"

"What is going on Doctor?" I asked.

"Fornicks! Don't listen to her," The Doctor pleaded again.

"He knew that we had been to your planet. He knew that we had your queen. That psychic field your species communicate with was important in the evolution of our nano-machines. They allowed us to spread ourselves all throughout the universe. The Doctor knew this the whole time, and did not tell you."

Fornicks stood silent for a while and no one said anything. Dow was busy in awe, looking at the black cloud that produced the image of the ant queen, and then looking into his little robot, arm-glove thingy.

"Fornicks. I will save your colony. I will save all the Velum on your planet!" The Doctor exclaimed, but it did not work. Fornicks made up his mind and started to walk towards Leppi.

"Good choice my old friend," said Leppi. "We will be taking this ship here to Hymeno."

"I won't let you take him!" The Doctor protested, and pulled out his sonic screwdriver, pointing it at Leppi. That grey mist then surrounded Fornicks again and shot out in all directions knocking us back. It knocked the wind right out of me. The Doctor was the first to get up. I looked up to see Leppi and Fornicks entering a small silver spaceship with that G.R.E.E.N. insignia. Cera began to run towards the ship but The Doctor stopped her again.

"No, let them go."

The Doctor stood there thinking for about a minute. Our two tour guides stood in the middle of the hangar with their arms crossed.

"And that concludes the tour," said the girl excitedly. "Please stop by the gift shop!"

We followed The Doctor through the facility. He didn't say a word, he just walked determinedly. Fornicks had left with that woman, and The Doctor was not okay with this. We left through the main building and reentered the rain. The Doctor was so determined that he forgot his umbrella. I had to run and catch up to him to shield him from the rain. We reached The Tardis and The Doctor disappeared inside for a second.

Cera and Dow stood behind me, sharing an umbrella of their own. The Doctor's head quickly popped out of the open Tardis doors.

"Okay crew, I am going to go get Fornicks," said The Doctor with his head bobbing out of The Tardis. I'll catch you guys later." He winked and vanished back into the doors of The Tardis.

"Wait what! You are leaving us here?!" I screamed.

He reappeared. "Yeah, you guys got this." He went back inside.

"Got what!" I screamed again.

He popped out again and threw my lacrosse stick to me. I caught it. I forgot I even brought it. We left right after the match, so I still had my gear on me. And boy, do I love my lacrosse stick. My stick's name was "Regina." She was all black except for red tape at my favorite hand positions. She was a little bit shorter than a normal attacker's stick, but she had no equal. The best one I have ever used.

"Captain Crehan, I'm couting on you," said The Doctor. "Lead this team to victory."

"What?! Counting on me to do what!"

"How did you guys beat the New Jersey University Herons?" he asked.

"Well, they are big on passing... So zone defense?" I replied.

"Hahahaa! Not those Herons," he laughed. "The imposters."

"Oh? Um... We... destroyed their school bus?"

"Yes!" exclaimed The Doctor.

"Yes?" I had no idea what he expected of me.

I heard the slam of The Tardis doors.

"Doctor!" I screamed as I pounded on the door. And then I heard that noise.

::Weehee - Yoo::

::Weehee - Yoo::

He was leaving without us! I pounded on the door! I pounded as hard as I could, until The Tardis was gone. I was left knocking on thin air. I was soaking wet. I don't remember when I dropped my umbrella, but I was alone on this planet. Well, not alone. I had Cera and Dow. He said to lead this team? Destroy the school bus?

"OH!" I screamed. I had it. I looked down at Regina, and then at Cera and Dow. "We need to find their school bus!"

Chapter 11: Purple


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Purple

We entered the small silver craft, leaving The Doctor and his companions behind. I was indebted to The Doctor for a lot; saving my colony 30 years ago, saving Leppi from that oligo back then, and rescuing me from The Jedi temple. But this is what I need to do. My colony is in danger. The Queen is in danger. The ship began to take off. I looked down to see The Doctor staring up at me. There was disappointment in his eyes, but I knew he understood.

Leppi was piloting the silver small craft as we left the planet's atmosphere. But instead of the usual way these people move their crafts, she had black fibers exiting out of her fingers. The fibers were alive. Tiny little organisms, too small to see with the eye. I could feel them. They were machines but they were alive at the same time. The small blonde boy, Dowitcher, called them "Nanites." They would take over living organisms and technology, intertwining themselves with their hosts. Kind of like my Passenger. And with every planet they reached they would pervert whatever they find to help their cause. And now I discover that they have been on my planet this whole time. They had my Queen.

"Hymeno is in this same star system, so we'll be there shortly," said Leppi. The first time I met her, she had these wide orange eyes. They were full of wonder and curiosity. But now she has been changed too. She still appears as the frail purple frame of the young scientist I once knew, but now she is under the control of these Nanites. This person sitting next to me wasn't my Leppi, but I could feel her. She was trapped inside of her own body. I said nothing as we descended down onto my planet.

As we approached my planet, I could see dark swirling clouds. No, the clouds weren't just dark. They were black. Rain fell heavy onto the desolate planet surface. We flew over the surface and could see a large black pillar in the distance. As we approached, I could see that it was the same spiraling pillar that I had seen back at the recording in the laboratory. A black pillar, alive with nanites, traveling up and down into the spiraling black clouds. They descended deep into the planet, into an opening in the surface.

The black pillar pierced into the planet at the hole the oligo created on the day I first met The Doctor. Leppi brought the ship down, into the spire. We landed, and I jumped out of my seat - anxious for the doors of the craft to open up. When they did, I ran out. We were in The Queen's chamber. Tall walls on all sides of us carved with passageways for my brothers and sisters to move into other sections of the colony. The Queen laid at the far wall of the cavern, with the black spiraling pillar embedded through her thorax. There were very few of my sisters attending to her, and I could feel the rest of the colony hiding deep in the caverns.

"There she is Fornicks," started Leppi as she caught up with me. "Your Queen is capable of creating a very powerful psychic field, which we have been using as a relay to extend our reach throughout the Universe. But her power is nothing compared to the creature you call The Passenger."

So that's why I was brought here. Leppi wants The Passenger. I saw it in The Doctor's eyes back at the Jedi Temple. The creature inside of me is their goal. If they get their hands on The Passenger, it will lead to their evolution into a form that is unstoppable. The Doctor saw that future, and came here to stop it. I played right into their hands! But no, I will stop this here! The Passenger is currently under my control.

"What do you say Fornicks?" asked Leppi as she extended her slender purple hand towards me.

Anger swelled up inside of me. I could feel the life force draining from The Queen. I let The Passenger's power flow through me. The creature's gray mist surrounded me. It began to fill the entire cavern.

"Yes Fornicks, join us!" Leppi screamed.

And I let him out. Large and terrifying, he filled the entire cavern. His mass dwarfed both the ship we came in on and The Queen. With pale blue skin and a mane of thick black hair that stretched down to the ground, The Passenger took a more physical appearance than he had ever before. His hands and feet ended in long sharp claws and his mighty fangs let out a terrible roar that mirrored my rage.

::GRAAAWWWWR!::

I sent him at a run towards the pillar and he slashed at it repeatedly. The pillar retained its shape, and flowed through his claws like running water. The pillar had no solid form, and I could not remove it's flow from The Queen. I decided that I would move The Queen. I sent The Passenger to lift her up and my sisters that were attending to her scattered. As I lifted up The Queen, the dark spire released her. We laid The Queen down gently to the side. She awkwardly started to move towards one of the larger passageways out of the royal chamber. The dark spire twisted in confusion, like a dangling oligo, unable to sense its previous host. It then darted forwards and struck my Passenger in the chest.

The strike pierced us both like a knife. I fell to my knees, and The Passenger lifted his head in another roar. This one of pain and defiance

::KRWAAAWWWWR!::

And then I could no longer feel him. The pain from the spirals stab was gone, but so was all of my sense of The Passenger. I was free of him. I was no longer his host. Still on my knees, I saw the last of The Queen's abdomen disappear through a passageway on the far side of the cavern. The black spire stayed tethered into The Passenger's chest as he thrashed about sending rocks falling in every direction. I began to feel very week, and could not get up.

"Thank you for being so obliging Fornicks," cackled Leppi as she waved her hand, signaling the large pale blue creature towards me. It raised its mighty arm and slashed down towards me. I struggled to stand, but could not gather the strength. I always thought that my Passenger would be the thing to kill me, but not like this. I closed my eyes and waited for the end to come.

::Hoo-ooh Yeesh::

::Hoo-ooh Yeesh::

I opened my eyes at the sound of that annoying shrill noise. I saw a pair of gray shoes and brought my eyes up to see him. I was inside of The Doctor's device, and The Doctor stood there with a great smile.

"Did you and Leppi have a disagreement Brownie?" he joked. Then with a laugh he spun on his heels and opened the door to his craft. I could see the sharp toes of The Passenger right outside of The Tardis doors. Behind the beast, I could make out Leppi's frustrated face. The creature was attempting to slash at The Doctor's Tardis, but an invisible field prevented it.

"Doctor... I am sorry," I started, but he interrupted me with a pat on the head.

He began to walk out into the Queen's chamber, towards my former Passenger. Armed with nothing but that small silver tube he calls a Sonic Screwdriver, he skipped out of his craft.

"No need to explain Brownie," he looked back and winked at me. "Protect The Queen. Protect The Colony," he said firmly.

The screwdriver glowed a faint blue and the doors to The Tardis closed behind him, leaving me alone inside of the craft. I head the creature roar once again.

::GRAAAWWWWR!::

Chapter 12: Red-Hot Offense


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Red-Hot Offense

Okay, so The Doctor left us here. But it's because we have work to do! No more tears! I pulled a strand of rain soaked red hair from my mouth and stood up straight.

"Fall in Buccaneers!" I yelled.

"What?" reacted Dow confused.

There were three of us left here. I'm assuming The Doctor is going to play the position of goalkeeper, so the three of us are attackers. Dow doesn't look like much in terms of speed or any athletic ability, but he still has his uses. Ceranus on the other hand is a natural athlete. I could definitely use her.

She pointed up at some streaks in the sky. "Master Gilley is coming. I can sense him."

"Then we don't have much time to waste!" I exclaimed as I whipped my lacrosse stick, Regina, through the air with a swift flash of black. We ran back towards the main lab building.

Waiting for us at the entrance was that orange skinned scientist girl. I took point as we ran; with Cera to my right and Dow several yards behind.

"Excuse me," the young scientist extended her arm out as we approached. "There are no more tours going out today."

Cera sped ahead and ran up on her left. The orange girl turned to meet Cera as I ran up on her right. The feint worked. I swooped her legs with my lacrosse stick sending her crashing to the ground. One of the most satisfying feelings of this whole trip.

"Dow! Catch up!" I screamed behind me. We were making good time moving through the complex. Dow found a terminal to plug his little robot hand thingy. He still wore that nerdy glove thing on his arm, but I had to admit that it was kind of an impressive invention.

"I still don't understand what I am looking for," he said as he accessed the computer.

"The Doctor said that we need to find their school bus," I explained.

"What is a school bus?" asked Cera, who was keeping watch.

"We fought these cyborg things on my planet, and they were using a school bus as kind of like a home base. When we destroyed the bus, they weren't able to communicate with each other and shut down."

"Oh! You want me to locate their central relay!" exclaimed Dow.

"Hurry up, I can sense them near!" said Cera anxiously

"Okay, I found the central relay," started Dow, "But it seems that they abandoned it. It was moved weeks ago to a planet called Hymeno."

"I don't understand. That was the only thing The Doctor told me!" I just didn't get it. He told me I had to destroy their school bus. Just like we did on Earth. What were we missing?

"We have to trust The Doctor!" I said. I sounded more confident than I actually was.

"Well whatever we do, we have to do it soon," said Cera with her eyes closed. She was doing that Force sensing thingy. "Master Gilley is here with about 20 Jedi Knights."

"20!" exclaimed Dow. "We are doomed!"

"No! Buccaneers don't quit!" I screamed as I jumped up on the nearest lab bench. "Dow! Get us to the that former Central Relay!"

We ran. The relay was at the other end of the facility. We cut through the auditorium and the hangar bay and were back in the rain. To get there we had to pass through the Biological survey building and would then reach the Biotechnology building, where the central relay used to be+ located. We were a few dozen yards from the Biological survey building when we could make out the shapes of people in long brown robes. They stood in the rain, just as they had back on Coruscant. Jedi Knights; powerful and deadly warriors that were trained in wielding the devastating light weapons known as lightsabers. And standing in front of them was the gray haired, possessed, Master Gilley.

"You guys go around, I will handle this." said Cera. Also probably trying to sound more confident than she actually was.

"_Yeah right_ you will!" I scoffed. You are outnumbered!"

"And _you_ will make it an even fight?" she replied.

"Did you just tell a joke?" I laughed. And then she winked at me with a laugh. It was an awkward type of wink, as if it were her first time doing it. That sent me into an even wilder laugh. I winked back, still laughing.

So Dow and I circled around. We began to circle wide, outside of the research facility. A good distance away, I turned around. I could see Cera pull out her lightsaber, and take on a fighting pose. She held her blue lightsaber over her head and did not remove her stare from Master Gilley. I could see the heavy rain drops evaporating into smoke as they hit her weapon. Twenty or so Jedi surrounded her in a half circle. I clenched onto Regina hard as I ran, wishing I could be there with her, but I had to play my position. Cera was now playing defender, and it was up to Dow and I to play attacker. Circling as wide as we could, and staying clear of other researchers, it took us about 30 minutes to get around the facility and get to the Biotechnology building. It was a smaller rectangular building. A one-level, white facility with a dome top and no windows.

The doors were locked, and Dow had to do some computer stuff with the door controls.

"Are you done yet!" I asked anxiously. I was concerned because Cera was out there on her own. I wanted to end this as quickly as possible. Hopefully she could hold out until then.

"I just about... Got it!"

The doors opened. The inside was dark and another couple of presses into Dow's Gauntlet turned on harsh white lighting from above. The inside of the building consisted of one large room with silver/ metallic walls. On the panels of the walls on both sides were flat touch screen computer terminals. They began to light up dimly one by one. My eyes followed the screens as they began to turn on, towards the back of the room. Dow must have seen it first because he grabbed onto my arm. In the back of the room was a large creature. About 500 yards away from us, it was curled up into a ball, but I still estimated its size as being... well huge. It slowly began to stir and stood up.

The creature began to rise and covered its eyes from the harsh lighting that interrupted its sleep. It had those same white eyes as the possessed people we had run into earlier. The creature was alien, but strangely familiar to me. It stood on four legs but had two extra arms swinging as it erected itself. The creature had slick, silvery skin and stood at about 15 feet tall and 20 feet long. Its form was familiar. It looked like an alien centaur. Like my zodiac symbol - a Sagittarius! The bodies of a horse and a man combined, but in a weird alien way. The creatures four legs were not like that of a horse though, but ended in thin fingers like a lizard's. It whipped around a long silvery tail behind its body that cracked like a whip as its stare met ours. It's head sat upon very human like shoulders. It had a flat face with two slits down the midline for nostrils and tall ridges coming out of the top of its head like a dramatically tall crown. It bared it's short/ sharp teeth at us. The creatures swinging arms were also very human and ended in long silvery fingers. It began to walk towards us slowly on its four, lizard like feet.

"What on Earth is that Dow?" I exclaimed. I was in more awe than fear.

"No idea, but do you see what is behind him?"

I looked behind him to see a small circular depression in a terminal on the back wall. It was only visible after the creature started to move. It was also about 500 yards away, in the back of the room.

"What is it?" I asked.

"That is the central relay!" Dow shouted excitedly. "The information was uploaded into that terminal via a circular Q-drive. Do you have one of those?"

"A Q-drive?" I thought to myself. "No, The Doctor didn't give me anything of the sort."

"Well, we better think of something quick because here it comes!"

The creature moved from a slow curious walk into a steady run directly towards us. At that speed, it would be at us in seconds.

"Dow! You take the right!" I screamed as I ran down the left side of the room. Regina tightly in hand, I tried to get the creatures attention by screaming. "Come and get me ugly!"

There was plenty of room on both sides, the room was about 60 yards wide, so both Dow and I hugged the walls as we ran towards the relay. My taunt worked and the creature bounded towards me, leaving Dow able to get closer to the relay. The creature was fast! It was at me in another second, and slashed a sharp claw towards me. I barely ducked in time. I looked up to see four sharp scratch marks etched into the computer terminals above me. The creature looked down at me, and I looked towards Dow.

Though the kid was slow, he was about halfway to the terminal at the back of the room. I wasn't the only one who realized. The creature whipped its head towards Dow, ignoring me completely. We didn't really have a plan. I just wanted Dow to reach that terminal. The kid is smart. He'll think of something... Right?

The creature began to move towards Dow, showing his back to me. I instinctively grabbed at his tail to prevent it from getting to the little blonde nerd. The creatures monstrous strength dragged me for a couple of yards. Annoyed, with a mighty whip, the creature propelled me off of his tail and towards the doors we came in through. I hit the floor hard. I looked forward to see that the creature was already at Dow.

"DOW!" I screamed.

The creature lifted up his long and slender arms and began to slash at Dow. The kid pressed a button on his Gauntlet and a sharp white light was emitted from the palm, blinding the creature. It thrashed around blindly as Dow continued to run towards the rear terminal. Slashing at the walls and air, Dow's quick thinking allowed him to get some distance from the creature.

I slowly got to my feet. I was in pain. That tail thrashing I received was harder than any hit from any opposing team's attacker. But I needed to move forward. I used Regina as a crutch to help me stand. The creature's vision recovered and it pounced onto where Dow was. It caught up to him with ridiculous speed. It grabbed Dow by his leg and flung him towards the back of the room as well. It was now obvious. The creature didn't want us getting to the relay.

"Dow, are you alright?" I ran towards him, but the creature beat me to him again. What were we doing? I put Cera in danger, and now Dow! And there is no guarantee that even if we could get to this central relay, that there is anything we could do! I mean, they abandoned it! They moved it to some other place. Some other planet. And even if we could figure out what to do, we didn't even have one of these Q-drives!

I momentarily fell into despair, but I pulled myself out. No! I have to trust The Doctor. I barely know the guy, but what I do know is that he is some levels of amazing. He left us here for a reason. And he wouldn't leave me without everything I need... A circular Q-drive?

The creature lifted up Dow again, this time by his Gauntlet. It had become aware of the type of threat that Dow's invention is. Dow dangled from the creatures grip, many feet off of the ground. Dow then pressed a button that released his arm from his Gauntlet. He fell onto the ground unharmed. The creature crushed his invention with a closing of those mighty claws.

"Dow! The ball!" I screamed.

Dow, now dazedly sitting at the creatures feet, worked to regain his bearings. I began to run towards the rear terminal, hugging the side of the wall, and holding Regina close to me.

"Dow! Throw me the ball!" I screamed again.

Dow looked confused for a second, but then he got it too. As I passed where Dow and the creature were, the creature's attention once again found me. It began to chase me. Dow reached into his pocket and found that psychic ball game that The Doctor gave him. I think they called it a "_psychic sphere_". He threw it in an arch over the creature, towards me. The creature was hot on my trail, and I could hear its sharp toes scratching against the floor as it pursued me.

I could see the ball over me, moving towards the rear terminal. I was maybe 100 yards away from the rear terminal at this point. I ran and stretched Regina out in front of me. I caught the ball in my lacrosse stick's net. Now the creature was directly above me. It's long and slender arms, tipped with those sharp claws descended towards me. I was still about 50 yards away. It was an impossible shot, but one that I needed to make. I stopped on my left leg and winded up. I could hear the creature getting close. I took aim and slashed Regina downward with a vertical shot. The ball propelled straight towards the central relay in the back of the room. There was no room for error. The relay was probably only a little bit larger on all sides than the psychic sphere.

I saw the ball move towards the back of the room but lost view of my shot as I was lifted upside down from my ankles by the creature. It threw me towards the back of the room. Dow caught me and we both fell backwards. The creature jumped and was now on top of both of us. We were pinned down, our backs, as his sharp claws descended towards us. We couldn't escape. I closed my eyes. Dow grabbed onto my hand tightly.

A second or two passed and I looked up to see the creatures sharp claws. Its sharp fingers stopped inches from my face. I looked over to my right to see that Dow still had his eyes closed. I looked back at the creature. The creature was frozen in place. I looked behind the creature and saw that the psychic sphere had indeed landed successfully in the central relay. I saw Regina at my feet and went to pick her up, but something stopped my hand from moving.

"You can let go of my hand now Dow," I laughed.

Chapter 13: Pitch Black


End file.
